


Destination Vegas: Road Trip Gone Awry

by Pegasicorn



Category: Fallout 4, Fallout: Nuka Break (Web Series)
Genre: Crossover, Desert, M/M, Music, New Vegas, Road Trips, Spoilers, Video Game Mechanics, post-nuclear creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-08-30 06:05:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 30,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8521330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pegasicorn/pseuds/Pegasicorn
Summary: Sole Survivor Liam O'Keeffe has accomplished a lot since leaving Vault 111. With the threat of the Institute gone, things are finally calming down. But Liam finds himself growing restless. So when word reaches him that there's a revived Las Vegas out to the west... Saddle up, folks. It's road trip time!





	1. It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this back in the summer and never posted it anywhere. The idea kicked around in my head after finishing the main quest in the game and watching Nuka Break around the same time. I didn't have any of the DLCs yet, so I was basically screwing around in game doing nothing important for awhile. Poor Liam was getting bored. 8'D So I took some artistic liberties with time frames (I'm sure Nuka Break takes place years before Fallout 4, but shhhh) and came up with this...odd thing. I used some songs from Fallout 4 as inspiration to help me write, so I found a way to integrate lyrics into the story itself. All songs will be credited at the end of each chapter. Also...game mechanics. I mean, where do these people store all their stuff?? I'm carrying like 5000 ammo and a missile launcher! You'll get where I'm going with this eventually.
> 
> Aside from my Sole Survivor Liam (I keep finding that name everywhere now and it's all his fault), I do not own any of the characters. These are just my interpretations of them. I apologize for anything out of character.
> 
> With that said, I hope you enjoy this crazy road trip.

Damn it.

 

They really needed to go over the concept of "tactical retreat". Like where to retreat to. Or to retreat in the same direction. At least the same general direction so it'd be easier to find each other later and regroup.

 

But no. That group of raiders had gotten the drop on them, getting the high ground while the four of them were essentially "bowled" in the ravine they'd poorly chosen to travel through. It was an obvious ambush spot, but there hadn't been much choice; they were trying to cover as much ground as possible and this was the next area to continue their search in if they wanted to find Bonnie's old home.

 

Except they had walked into an ambush. There had been less cover than was ideal, making it difficult to stay out of the line of fire while trying to line up a shot in return.

 

And then one of the clever idiots pulled out the grenades.

 

In the confusion of debris that followed, the group had been separated, the only option at that point being retreat or be torn up by shrapnel. Having lingered a little behind to continue checking for their shadow of a "ranger", she'd been the one to run back out of the ravine the way they'd come while Twig, Larry, and Bonnie fled forward. There had been no way to follow them, unless she wanted to chance dodging "hot potatoes". Whatever potatoes even were. Stupid old world sayings...

 

Scar gripped the stock of her laser rifle a little tighter in her fist from where it dangled at her side. She was angry at herself. It had been stupid to even go that way. But there had been no better way to go that didn't involve an added two day hike just to find another route. And those raiders knew that. Damn them for being clever.

 

That had been yesterday. Her attempt to regroup with the others had unfortunately been delayed by another annoyance. A damn dust storm. It had finally cleared up enough by dawn for her to travel without being blinded, but that was a whole night wasted. An added seven or so hours onto the two or so day hike they should've done to begin with.

 

Except now she was alone. Damn it--

 

_"FLASH!"_

 

The rifle whipped up, ready to end the first thing that dared to take her on--

 

_"BAM! ALAKAZAM!  
Wonderful you came by~"_

 

Wait...

 

She furrowed her brow, shifting her eyes around.

 

That was music...

 

_"I was humming a tune, drinking in sunshine--"_

 

She lowered the rifle, still ready to use it if needed.

 

_"--when out of that orange-colored view~_  
_FLASH! BAM! ALAKAZAM!_  
_I got a look at you~"_

 

 _What the hell..._ Curious, but still cautious, she followed the upbeat sound, keeping her finger near the trigger as she wove her way between boulders.

 

It seemed to be bouncing off surfaces, causing her to stop a few times to pinpoint the direction a few times, but finally, she found the source of the mysterious music in the shadow of a rocky outcropping.

 

A pip-boy.

 

On the wrist of some guy that appeared to be passed out in said shadow of rocky outcropping.

 

She assumed he was passed out anyway. It was a little hard to tell since the guy had on a gas mask. Not to mention a black coat. Who wore a coat that heavy in the desert? Even if it got a little cooler at night, it was never that cold. This had to be some vault-dweller that had gotten lost during the dust storm and met his unfortunate end.

 

Or it could be another trap.

 

She waited, shifting her eyes around again in case someone was watching, waiting to strike the moment she let down her guard.

 

_"One look and I yelled timber! Watch out for flying glass!"_

 

And that damn music was still playing. What station was that anyway?

 

"Fine. If this is a trap, whatever! I'm out of patience to care..." The last part was grumbled more to herself as she finally stepped closer, if only to check if the guy was faking or not.

 

And to loot his pockets. Why pass up the opportunity, right?

 

Just as she reached to check the front-most pocket closest to her--

 

_Click._

 

 _Shit,_ was all she could think, staring at the muzzle of a rifle suddenly pointed at her face.

 

She waited for the inevitable boom, cursing herself for being so stupid after just criticizing herself before--

 

"What the hell are you doing?"

 

\--ok. No gunshot to the face then. Unexpected, but acceptable compared to the alternative.

 

But she still had a rifle pointed at her face and a question from said rifle-holder to answer.

 

“Um.”

 

Eloquent, Scar. Eloquent.

 

“ _FLASH! BAM!  
Alakazam and goodbye~”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used this chapter: _Orange Colored Sky_ \- Nat King Cole


	2. Road Trip!

Well, this was another great mess he’d gotten himself into…

 

Traveling out here had been risky to begin with, being practically on the opposite side of the country, but things had quieted down in the Commonwealth since the Institute’s demise. The Railroad had him running the odd mission here and there, sure: rescue the occasional stranded synth, take out the remaining Courser either seeking revenge or hellbent on completing the (now pointless) runaway retrieval they’d been sent on… But even those were becoming fewer and farther between. Even attacks on the settlements he’d set up and gained the trust of in the name of the Minutemen had become less common.

 

_“Times have changed~_  
_And we often rewound the clock~_  
_Since the Puritans got the shock~_  
_When they landed on Plymouth Rock!”_

 

For the first time since waking up in this destroyed and rebuilt version of the Boston area he’d called home, Liam O’Keeffe, General of the Minutemen, main heavy of Railroad HQ, destroyer of the Brotherhood and their Prydwen airship, and vanquisher of the dark entity and kidnapper of people in the night known as the Institute…

 

...was completely bored out of his mind.

 

“ _Instead of landing on Plymouth Rock,  
Plymouth Rock would land on them!”_

 

Everything was going the way it should, for the most part, leaving him lost in what he should be doing. He’d tried traveling across the Commonwealth, checking in with friends he’d made, or maybe to find that one building he hadn’t explored yet. Maybe there was another hidden shopping cart full of random crap lying in the woods somewhere. It was nothing big or very exciting, but it was still something.

 

But no. It was pretty much business as usual. Hell, he almost looked forward to the attacks on the checkpoints the Railroad had set up for helping confused synths.

 

He still swore they only needed his help when he approached, though. It was like he was the harbinger of checkpoint attacks. Seriously, universe, what the hell…

 

“ _But now God knows~  
Anything goes!”_

 

He’d gotten so bored, he’d started going through all the frequencies on his radio, just to hear what he’d pick up. Mostly static, but there actually were a few viable stations. A few were set up by travelers from outside of the Commonwealth, older folks who liked to tell tales of where they had been before settling down in the Boston area. The idea of venturing out to other rebuilt regions was intriguing to him, but not something he’d seriously considered doing before.

 

Until hearing of the rebuilt Las Vegas.

 

_New_ Vegas.

 

It was through a station called Tumbleweed Tunes that he had heard of it, thanks to its old cowboy of a host, Dusty Dude. He had quite a tale to tell between his guitar strummings.

 

Apparently the Mojave Desert hadn’t been hit the same way as the rest of the United States. The Strip was still as lively as it ever was, in some ways looking like the world had never ended. Liam had missed his chance to visit Las Vegas in the past, but maybe a trip to _New_ Vegas wasn’t out of the question…

 

It hadn’t taken much convincing. He’d almost changed his mind himself, what with practically being the protector of the Commonwealth. Not to mention his second chance at being a father. (Even if his son really was a synth who didn’t know he was one. Still an awkward subject he avoided.) Shaun said he would miss him, but as long as he promised to return (with souvenirs and more things for him to take apart), he would be ok. And the people of Sanctuary assured him they would watch over him just as they always did whenever he was out. That put his mind at ease enough to go through with these plans.

 

But he didn’t plan to go it alone. That would be suicide. Time to assemble a traveling party.

 

His friends were game. Some of them anyway. Not everyone could just leave for that many weeks; too many responsibilities to leave behind.

 

Preston easily volunteered to take over as acting General of the Minutemen while he was away. That was fine. He was practically the Minutemen’s mascot as it was.

 

Piper was always up for a good story; Nat had already proven she could take care of herself, and even convinced her sister she could handle things just fine. As long as she came back with plenty of material for the paper...and some souvenirs.

 

Cait took no convincing. All it took was the mention of Vegas to get her packing her bags. Hopefully she didn’t regret it after learning of the long hike it would be…

 

Curie insisted on coming along too, because, “You never know what dangers there will be, Monsieur.”

 

He’d asked Deacon if he was interested in a little road trip, but was only met with a reluctant, “No can do, boss.” As much as Deacon would love to hit the Strip (and maybe cause a little mayhem with his constant change of wardrobe), Railroad HQ would probably fall into chaos with both of their only remaining heavies out of town. So he asked to take a rain check.

 

Danse… He wasn’t even sure he should ask. He didn’t strike him as the gambling type. Or the _anything_ indulgent type. Besides, he seemed pretty content acting as one of the defense guards of Sanctuary. It gave him purpose.

 

Turns out he didn’t need to do anything. The former Paladin approached him himself, nodding, “I’ll keep the area secure while you’re gone,” as he passed by. All Liam could do was blink after him, barely managing to get out a quiet “thank you”.

 

Nick was another who approached him himself. The detective made it clear that while he would love a vacation, the cases would pile up too much in his absence. He pointed out how many had accumulated from his “little trip” to vault 114 alone. Good point. The synth sent him off with a, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Liam tried not to snort at that.

 

He had to convince Codsworth and Dogmeat to stay behind. As much as he’d love to have them with him, he’d feel guilty dragging them out on the road for so long. Shaun helped in that regard. He thought Dogmeat was the best dog ever and had grown very attached to him. And the robot butler didn’t want to leave so soon after they’d only just found the boy. So that was that.

 

And MacCready...well…

 

He’d follow Liam to hell and back again, and pretty much had. Multiple times.

 

He had to be pissed.

 

Damn radscorpions and their pop-goes-the-weasel routine…

 

Damn dust storm out of nowhere…

 

Damn his horrible sense of direction!

 

He was only surprised this hadn’t happened sooner on this trip. He bet his soldier wouldn’t let him leave his sight for anything once he found them.

 

If he found them.

 

_“The world has gone mad today~_  
_And good’s bad today~_  
_And black’s white today~_  
_And day’s night today~”_  
\--that was starting to get distracting--  
“ _And that gent today you gave a cent today once had several chateaus!”_

 

When did his radio even turn on? He so needed to turn that off. But to do that he would need to drop his rifle. Which he still had aimed at this woman’s face. Did she plan on answering him or not?

 

“Well?” He flicked the rifle to emphasize the word. “Are you going to answer?”

 

She almost flinched, staring at the muzzle warily...and was that a bit of guilt? “Well, you seemed dead, so...survival of the wasteland, y’know?” She ended it with a shrug, gaining a little confidence since she seemed to realize he hadn’t shot her yet. He didn’t actually intend to if he could avoid it, but he wouldn’t tell her that.

 

He shot her a flat look, which was lost on her due to the gas mask. (Seems he forgot he had it on.) “I’m not dead yet.” His tone was certainly flat enough to convey the expression.

 

Another shrug. “It was hard to tell.”

 

“Check better next time.”

 

“ _Anything goes~  
_ “ _...  
_ “ _That was ‘Anything Goes’ by Cole Porter.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Anything Goes_ \- Cole Porter


	3. Heading My Way?

_“...  
“Travis ‘Lonely’ Miles here, bringing you the latest news from the Commonwealth…”_

 

He slowly turned his head a little towards the pip-boy still broadcasting what was apparently Diamond City Radio. How was he getting a signal this far away? Were the signal boosters he’d installed just that powerful??

 

“I’m...going to turn that off now if you don’t mind.”

 

She blinked, shifting her eyes towards the device on his wrist as well, the guy on the station starting to talk about some “Greentech building”. “Uh. Right…” She took that as another way of saying “get out of my face already”. Seeing as he was the one with a rifle pointed at her while she dumbly had kept hers hanging at her side, she obliged--carefully, in case sudden moves annoyed him more--stepping back from the crouch she’d been in.

 

He eyed her warily--or she assumed since his face wasn’t visible--finally relaxing his weapon when she moved away enough. He had to put it down anyway since he needed that hand free to switch off the radio. That was definitely a station she’d never heard before. She didn’t know of any building by that name.

 

_Click._ They were left in an awkward silence, only the faint sound of wind filling the space.

 

Scarlett wasn’t a fan of this, shifting her eyes around while the guy carefully stood up from where he’d been leaning against the rock wall. He cast his gaze around while patting at his coat to dust off any dirt and gravel stuck to it, as if checking that he had everything on him. She hadn’t taken anything, and he must have known that, so she assumed it was more out of habit. To avoid this becoming even more awkward--and perhaps to make up for nearly robbing him--she decided to attempt casual conversation.

 

“So...what, you’re a vault dweller?” Probably not the best way to start.

 

He stopped his shifting, snapping his attention towards her again almost as if he was surprised she was still there.

 

“Uh, technically, I was, yea…” That was a touchy subject he wasn’t sure he should broach. Not with strangers in a new land as it were. It was already odd enough to bring into conversation back home.

 

She raised a brow. “Technically?”

 

“Yes. Technically.” That was all he was willing to say.

 

She stared.

 

He stared back.

 

Stare.

 

Stare.

 

_Stare._

 

_Stare._

 

Huff. “Fine. I was just asking. It’s just usually only vault dwellers have pip-boys on their arms,” she gestured at said personal computer.

 

He lifted his arm up to glance at it. “Yea…”

 

Ok, so obviously the guy didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe it was one of those vaults with the so-called “social experiments” she’d heard about, like how Twig’s vault had been used to test out the eat-o-tronic automated food system and the drink of choice was nothing but Nuka Cola. Maybe she’d find out later. For now, it didn’t really matter.

 

She shrugged. “Whatever.” Might as well change the subject. “Look, where you headed?”

 

“Huh?” That seemed to catch him off guard.

 

“Where are you headed?” She repeated the question slightly slower. “You’re obviously not from around here--” She gestured at him as a whole, causing him to glance down at his attire. “--so you have to be headed somewhere, right?” This was beginning to feel like pulling teeth, getting information out of this guy.

 

“Um...yea.” He mentally smacked himself at how stupid he was sounding, especially since she was starting to sound annoyed. And people called him “Charmer”... He hadn’t had a very good night, ok?! He decided it was best to cooperate before she could get more annoyed at him being difficult. Didn’t seem like she meant any harm, and even if she did, he’d tangled with tough opponents before. “New Vegas.”

 

She had been about to say something else or threaten to just walk away, so needless to say she was caught off guard, expression turning thoughtful a second later. “Ok...you’re a little off the mark then.”

 

Now he huffed. “Yea. I know.” He sounded annoyed. “I got lost, ok.” Mostly at himself.

 

She narrowed an eye in scrutinization. “Even though you have a map.” The eye was directed at his pip-boy again.

 

The gas mask seemed to glare at her. “Blame the dust storm.” And the radscorpions. And his crap sense of direction. But he wouldn’t bring that up… “Besides, it’s not like I didn’t try to look at it. Couldn’t get it to work last night. I think I must’ve hit a few random buttons fumbling with it and that’s why my radio was on…” He brought up his wrist again, turning a few dials as if to check everything was in order.

 

She felt kind of bad for the guy. “Well...I guess you could come with me if you want. I’m sort of heading that way anyway,” she added with a shrug.

 

It wasn’t because she’d like some company while traveling. Not at all. She’d punch the first person to say that.

 

Shut up.


	4. Enigma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus begins Scarlett trying to crack this shell.

So they were traveling together.

 

_“Ohhh~_  
_Well I’m the type of guy who will never settle down._  
_When a pretty girls talks well you know that I’m around.”_

 

Scarlett learned pretty quickly that Liam liked to listen to the radio while he traveled.

 

“ _I kiss ‘em and I hug ‘em ‘cause to me they’re all the same.”_

 

A lot.

 

_“I love ‘em and I squeeze ‘em; they don’t even know my name._

_“They call me the wanderer~  
Yea the wanderer~”_

 

“So.”

 

He almost jumped, turning towards her as if broken from a trance. “Huh?”

 

This guy was easily distracted, wasn’t he? Maybe that was the real reason he got lost. “Where you from?”

 

He recovered quickly enough. “Commonwealth. Boston area.” He wasn’t sure what name it was best known by in the Mojave.

 

“I’ve heard of it. It’s quite a distance, isn’t it?”

 

“Yea, it definitely is.” His tone said exactly how much he agreed.

 

_“Well, I roam from town to town._  
_I go through life without a care~_  
_And I’m as happy as a clown~_  
_With my two fists of mine and I’m going nowhere~”_

 

Scarlett jutted her chin towards his pip-boy. “What station is that anyway?” Not that she cared. She just had to know.

 

“Ah. Diamond City Radio. The ‘latest news from the Commonwealth’,” he added on in mimicry of its host.

 

_“Well I’m the type of guy that likes to roam around._   
_I’m never in one place~_   
_I roam from town to town~”_

 

A frown marred her brow. “That’s a local station from there, isn’t it. How are you even getting a signal this far away?”

 

“I have no idea. Unless the signal booster’s just that strong...” He held up his wrist again to glance at. Or she assumed. Damn gas mask. She hadn’t asked if there was a reason he was wearing that. But she was already prying enough. Maybe he was actually some wanted criminal on the run and that was the real reason he was out here! Or some overly famous guy that wanted to escape the limelight (What the hell was limelight anyway?)...

 

Or he just liked hiding his face.

 

...and the hell did he mean by “signal booster”? Did she even want to know?

 

_“Yea I’m a wanderer._  
_Yea a wanderer._  
_I roam around around around around around around around…_  
_‘Cause I’m a wanderer._  
_Yea a wanderer._  
_…”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _The Wanderer_ \- Dion


	5. The Mystery Builds

_"Well I'm getting tired working hard every day…”_

 

She still hadn't gotten much out of him.

 

“ _Working every day not getting much pay..."_

 

So she resorted to observing him when he wasn't looking...

 

_"I got a big Geiger counter it's a pretty good rig…”_

 

...which was hard to tell due to that goddamn gas mask.

 

“ _When the needle starts clicking that's where I'm gonna dig~"_

 

Why was he even wearing it? She assumed it was for the dust storm that had apparently caused him to get separated from his traveling party. But he'd kept it on. Was he just sensitive to the sun? He was from Boston; not the desert. It wouldn't really be as hot there, so the sun should be less intense... And he had to be overheating in that big coat. Though she had heard black was the best for preventing sunburn. You'd feel warmer, but you wouldn't cook, however that worked. So maybe sun sensitivity really was the reason...

 

Or she was just going mad from curiosity and coming up with reasons not to see his face.

 

There was one more thing she noticed on the blonde.

 

Not that he was blonde and wearing a cowboy hat. That was common enough.

 

It was his ring. The sun had been glinting off it for awhile, so she couldn’t help but notice. Rings were common enough too. But this one was gold.

 

A wedding ring.

 

She was even more curious now.

 

\---

 

He could feel her staring. Again.

 

_"Well I can see me now in my long Cadillac..."_

 

He pretended not to notice, wondering what she would say next.

 

_"Hinges in the middle spare wheel on the back..."_

 

It was also proving a good distraction from how anxious he was feeling. His friends had to be worried. Hopefully they'd continue on their way to New Vegas, assuming he was heading that way too. Because there was no way they'd be able to track him, or he them. The sand that got blown about would have made sure of that.

 

He sighed. Not as good a distraction as he thought…

 

\---

 

She almost jumped, thinking she’d been caught and/or had finally annoyed him.

 

But no. That wasn’t an annoyed sigh. That was more of a “weight of the world” sigh. She knew that feeling all too well, having once been a slave on the run from a deranged Legionary that believed her to be his “perfect one” to give him the ideal son, meant to lead the Legion to greater power or whatever. It didn’t matter. The guy had been psycho. Luckily, he was dead. She had made sure of that by emptying a clip into him. There were times that day still haunted her…

 

Her brow furrowed as she decided to take another chance in getting something out of this guy. “Cap for your thoughts?”

 

Liam shook his head with another sigh, as if trying to push away the weight. “Just wondering how much my friends are worrying right now.”

 

“ _Yes that’s me in my long Cadillac…”_

 

The radio was starting to irritate him now. He debated on turning it off for awhile.

 

Scar frowned, eyeing the ring again, wondering if there was more to the word “friends” than he was saying. “My friends are probably having their own freak out if I know them…” She snorted at the thought, half-amused at how she could picture them reacting.

 

“ _Heading down the road and I ain’t coming back…”_

 

That got a forced laugh out of him. “So we’ll both be getting words when we find our friends again.”

 

“ _Ain’t no red light gonna make me stop…”_

 

“More like I’ll have words for them.” She thought back on their lack of planning ahead in case of emergencies.

 

“ _When I find that big uranium rock…”_

 

“Oh?” He gave the impression of a concerned frown. Damn that mask!

 

_“Money money money the kind you fold~_   
_Money money honey rock and roll…”_

 

She was about to explain just how she ended up traveling on her own when--

 

“Mooooo~!”

 

_“Rake it in bale it up like hay~_   
_Have a rockin good time to throw it all away~”_

 

“Is that a _merchant?_ ” He said the last word like a kid at Christmas, reaching behind himself and pulling a travel satchel out of…

 

...nowhere??

 

Where the hell?

 

Did he always have…??

 

Scarlett stared after him with her mouth agape as he flagged the traveling caravan down, bag rattling with its contents as he jogged up to them.

 

She stood there staring like a dumb brahmin for a second before slowly closing her mouth and following, trying to get rid of the bewildered expression.

 

She mostly succeeded.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Uranium Rock_ \- Warren Smith


	6. Cracking the Shell

“I saw it, but I still don’t know how you managed it...”

 

She had watched as he'd pulled out box of ammo after box of ammo, and even a few random weapons (How was he carrying so many, and why?), putting them up for trade so as not to spend any caps on the .50 calibers he wanted, and even coming out of it several caps richer. All the while the merchant hadn't even batted an eye, acting like this was completely normal.

 

“ _Like an earthquake starting to roll…”_

 

How the hell.

 

“ _I felt my world shake out of control…”_

 

He looked up from counting the caps he'd received, stowing them away to who knows where. “What?”

 

“ _Like a world war starting to brew…”_

 

She swore he was laughing at her.

 

“ _Baby, it’s just you.”_

 

She also swore that radio host was egging her on. Was her eye starting to twitch?

 

_“You leave me breathless, weak in the knees~_  
_I'm feeling reckless, pardon me please~”_

 

That radio host was going on her list of people to punch.

 

_“The fallout's blowing through..._  
_But baby, it's just you.”_

 

The gas mask lowered a little, shifting its gaze back and forth a few times. “Um…” More shifting. “You’re not about to hit me, are you?” He was sounding nervous now.

 

_“Like a trainwreck jumping the track..._  
_Or a card deck missing a Jack...”_

 

Scar just managed to control the eye twitch _that wasn’t really happening._ “No. But it’s getting tempting.”

 

_“What's the Queen of Hearts to do?_  
_'Cause baby, it's just you.”_

 

Liam almost seemed to shrink into himself, and she couldn’t help but picture a puppy--no, a kitten staring up at her guiltily with big blue eyes. She wasn’t sure why blue, but it seemed right.

 

Sigh. “Ok, I wasn’t really going to.” He relaxed some at this, but not completely as there was still a tightness to her voice that promised pain. “But you have to admit you’re being difficult. I’d kind of like to know who I’m traveling with. And not just a name. For all I know, you could be a wanted criminal and I could’ve collected a bounty on you by now.”

 

He snorted out a nervous chuckle, lifting his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, I’ll cut it out. And for the record, I have no criminal record.” Pause. “Mostly.”

 

_“You've got the power~_  
_You've got the cure~”_

 

She perked up at this. Was she finally going to learn what was behind the gas mask? ...if at least figuratively?

 

...and what did he mean by “mostly” no criminal record?

 

_“Like a mushroom cloud in the sky..._  
_I felt my world start waving goodbye...”_

 

“But…” He held up a finger in the classic “making a point” gesture. “I expect this to be a two-way street. And I reserve the right to not disclose any information that makes me uncomfortable.”

 

_“Radiating through and through..._  
_Baby, it's just you.”_

 

She nodded. “Fair enough.” At least now she might learn something. And hopefully that wouldn’t make her regret deciding to travel with this guy. There was still more than a day until they reached Vegas after all… “Maybe we can start with who we’re actually looking for…”

 

_“Baby it's just--_  
_Baby it's just you.”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Baby it's Just You_ \- Lynda Carter


	7. Reminiscing

_“..._   
_The Minutemen are making waves in the Commonwealth, folks, and that’s good news for all of us…”_

 

Liam paused in the middle of talking about his friends (How many times Cait had fallen into the trap of mirages in the desert and Curie being overly concerned in her cute way. That had to be amusing to watch...for awhile anyway. Much like how Twig hallucinated Nuka-Cola in the Mojave after being on the road for too long. It did get old after the first five times...), attention caught by his pip-boy--

 

“ _The latest word is they’ve retaken “The Castle”--”_

 

\--and looked away from it again, as if disappointed, mumbling, “Old news…” to himself.

 

Scarlett blinked, Diamond City Radio’s host continuing to go on about how it had been a dangerous feat and how the Minutemen should be better equipped to help people now. “Something up?”

 

“Huh? Oh, nothing really.” He didn’t sound too convincing. At the look she gave him, he relented. “Ah...well...the Minutemen are kind of a big deal back home… And one of my friends is...currently in charge of them…” There was something he wasn’t quite saying, but she let this slide, assuming it fell into the “uncomfortable zone” somehow. “...so any news of them is...well, you know…” He gestured about with his hands, grasping at the right word to use, but getting the point across well enough.

 

_“Next up is Bob Crosby, with ‘Dear Hearts and Gentle People’..._

 

_“..._

 

_“I love those dear hearts and gentle people…_   
_Who live in my home town~”_

 

...that was eerily fitting to their conversation.

 

_“Because those dear hearts and gentle people…_   
_Will never ever let you down~”_

 

Liam actually stopped walking, lifted his pip-boy to his face, dropped it, lifted it again, finally slowly dropped it to his side, stared ahead for a second, then shook his head and resumed moving.

 

Scar didn’t need to see his face to understand what happened, because she was pretty sure she had the same weirded out look on her own face. “Is this Travis guy psychic or something?”

 

“Sometimes I wonder…”

 

_“I’ve got a dream house I’ll build there one day…_   
_With picket fence and rambling roads~”_

 

He couldn’t help starting to hum along to the tune. It was always one of his favorites, and became more dear to him as the settlement of Sanctuary had developed.

 

_“I feel so welcome each time that I return…_   
_That my happy heart keeps laughing like a clown~”_

 

He let out a short chuckle. “I can’t help but think of home when I hear this song. You know...Preston, my friend in the Minutemen, is actually the main reason that community got started…”

 

She listened curiously, noting that he hadn’t required any prompting to start talking this time. “Oh? How so?”

 

“He had come from Quincy… It’s ah, a town in the southeast area of the Commonwealth… There was a betrayal amongst the Minutemen--this was near the end of their bad days, not long before the ‘making waves’ happened--”

 

She nodded, interest piqued.

 

“One of their people had joined up with a mercenary group known as the Gunners. They had it in for the people of Quincy. And with the traitor’s help, that group of mercenaries hit them hard. Things basically...went to hell.” His tone became more serious. “Preston was one of the few Minutemen to survive. Their leader was dead, so the position pretty much fell on him. It didn’t look good.” He recalled what Preston had told him. They had started as twenty. Became eight. And ended up as five. “But somehow, he got as many people out of there as he could. They were almost to safety...except a group of raiders had them pinned in an old building. And that’s where I came in,” he said wryly. “Fresh from the vault, combat skills rusty as hell...and somehow I took out the raiders that had them cornered, got involved with their plan to take out the rest, and barely took out my first deathclaw while I was at it.”

 

Scar’s eyebrows rose into her hairline.

 

“From there, it was just a short walk to the newly established Sanctuary Hills.”

 

_“Those dear hearts and gentle people…_   
_Who live~_   
_In my~_   
_Home~_   
_Town~~”_

 

“It was great to see my old town full of people again.”

 

_Old town?_ Now that _really_ caught her attention. What did he mean by that? She was about to ask when--

 

_Thwump._

 

_Thwump._

 

_Thwump._

 

She froze.

 

_Snrrrrrrl._

 

Scarlett slowly turned towards Liam, seeing him do the same. She didn’t need to see his face to guess his expression. It had to be as “oh shit” as hers was.

 

_“You can run like a rabbit._   
_Fly like a bee._   
_No matter what you’ll do you’ll never get away from me--_

 

_“Because I’m right behind you, baby~_   
_Right behind you, baby~_

 

_“Well I’m right behind you, baby, and you’ll never get away from me~”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Dear Hearts and Gentle People_ \- Bob Crosby, _Right Behind You Baby_ \- Ray Smith


	8. Steak

It was hunting them.

 

_It was fucking hunting them._

 

And she was seriously going to punch Travis in the face if she ever met him.

 

She was sure Liam might do the same. She’d heard him say, “Damn it, Travis, _not now,_ ” as he shut the radio off. Effing psychic DJ.

 

Then they had high-tailed it.

 

They weren’t sure where it was--with all the random big rocks around, sounds could bounce in any direction--but that was definitely a fucking _deathclaw_ , and she didn’t intend to find out by staying in one place.

 

Visibility was becoming more difficult, too, as the sun had started to set. Just perfect.

 

That didn’t stop Liam from turning his head every which way as they ran. She was about to tell him to cut it out already and move his ass, when he abruptly stopped. She skidded to a halt beside him, staring at him wildly like he was crazy. _“The fuck are you doing?”_ she managed through her clenched teeth.

 

He ignored her, turning his head less and less before seeming to focus in one general direction. She could hear the big footsteps speeding up, coming from that very direction. Eyes wide as saucers, she spotted the beast as it came into view, scales gleaming dully in the dying light, looking like some twisted giant gecko, with horns, and big teeth, and razor sharp claws, and _shit it was getting closer_.

 

She scrambled to raise and aim her laser rifle, sure it wouldn’t do a damn thing, but like hell was she going down without a fight.

 

The blonde reached over his right shoulder, making to grab something…

 

She gaped.

 

Where had he been keeping a missile launcher?!

 

And what else was he hiding?!

 

They would be having words later…

 

...if there was a later.

 

Liam set the heavy projectile weapon on his shoulder, braced his feet in a wide stance, aimed, and after hearing a short echoed beep, pulled the trigger.

 

_Fwoom~_

 

Time seemed to slow down.

 

She watched as the beast made to sidestep to avoid the blow, but the missile seemed to have a mind of its own, arcing to find its mark--

 

_BOMMM~!_

 

The beast released a terrifying shriek, tumbling to the ground in a loud and ungraceful _crash_ as it skidded to a stop in a small dust cloud.

 

The only sound after that was a slight breeze blowing the sand around.

 

Until Liam released the breath he’d been holding, lowering the now-smoking missile launcher off of his shoulder and turning towards her. “You ok?”

 

Scarlett then remembered to breathe.

 

“What the hell were you-- What was-- Where did--” She gestured wildly, caught between wanting to strangle him, and wanting to kiss him.

 

She settled for wanting to strangle, hand held up in a clawed pose. _“What the hell was that?”_

 

“Well…” He started, a little too calmly in her opinion, glancing at the fallen form that was also slightly smoking. “I think I just killed a deathclaw.”

 

“You’re being a little too _calm about this._ ” And there were the hysterics she was fighting.

 

He shrugged. “It was just a normal deathclaw.”

 

She stared. “Normal. Deathclaw.”

 

“Well...yea. It’s better than facing an Alpha, or better yet, _two Matriarchs_. Had one decide to _suplex_ me once…” He shook his head, as if reliving that day. “I’m lucky my arm didn’t break from the impact. Left a nice bruise though…”

 

She continued to stare.

 

Who was this guy really?

 

“But anyway…” He turned towards her again. “Think any others might bother us?”

 

She blinked, caught off guard by the question, but then furrowed her brow as she gave it some thought. “Probably not. They’re not exactly common in this part of the desert. And other things will more than likely avoid this area knowing one got killed…”

 

“Great.” The missile launcher was slung past his shoulder...and seemed to vanish. ”Because--” He pulled out a combat knife in its place. “I’m thinking steak tonight.”

 


	9. Making Camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one those "necessary filler" type chapters.

Deathclaw steaks.

 

Scarlett couldn’t say she’d ever had those before. There had been opportunities to, but it was always so damn expensive. Understandable really, seeing as no one was crazy enough to purposely hunt them.

 

Seems Liam did.

 

He certainly knew how to cook them right.

 

“ _Folks, if you haven't already heard, Diamond City Radio has possibly the biggest news in history to share with you…”_

  
He’d decided to turn the radio back on, too, since it seemed peaceful enough now.

 

“ _I can confirm, without a doubt, that the Institute is no more.”_

 

Or maybe he just didn’t like the silence. She didn’t ask.

 

“ _I don't expect the Railroad to come forward, but all signs point to them being the hero of the hour.”_

 

She also had no real idea what Travis was going on about--some big evil of the Commonwealth had been wiped out; no need to worry about it--so she was tempted to tune him out, focusing more on tearing into her steak. Who knew when she’d get to eat this kind of rarity again?

 

Apparently the blonde had somehow eaten without her looking, removing her opportunity to see beneath the mask. Damn. He was definitely hiding his face on purpose then.

 

“ _I also have it on good authority that the Vault Dweller was on scene...”_

 

Whoa, hold on. She stared at Liam’s pip-boy, attention caught by both the words coming from it, and the fact that it was a _pip-boy_ , a device typically owned by _vault dwellers_...

 

The crazy--maybe not so crazy?--theories of who he really was came to the surface again. Specifically, of him being a celebrity who didn’t want to be recognized…

 

She moved her eyes up towards the side of the gas mask she could see, wishing for x-ray vision.

 

He purposely kept looking away from her.

 

Or he could just be looking at the stars since it was clear enough to see them all tonight.

 

Or he could be refusing to meet her gaze.

 

“ _We owe him our thanks. Hell, I think it's fair to say...we owe him our lives…”_

 

She narrowed her eyes, wondering. There had to be other vault dwellers in Boston. He couldn’t be the only one. So who could say Travis had been talking about him…

 

“It’s getting late.”

 

She could proudly say she had not jumped when he spoke. She also managed to make it look like she hadn’t been staring. Because she hadn’t.

 

“Uh, yea, I guess it is.” That was not a stutter.

 

“Well,” he grunted as he stood from where he’d been seated at their camp/cooking fire. “I guess I can take first watch. I did wake up later than you after all.” There was the hint of a smirk in his voice, as if he was teasing her.

 

She colored a little, glad it was too dark to notice, as she remembered how they had met this morning and decided to travel together.

 

...had it really only been a day?

 

“ _A new day is dawning in Diamond City, folks. Hell, for the whole Commonwealth…_

 

“ _Let’s make the most of it…”_

 


	10. Spying

Keeping watch was more of a formality than a necessity. Still, she hadn’t argued, figuring maybe he wanted some time to himself. He did seem to be spacing out during dinner...

 

_“Wish on the moon…_   
_And look for the gold in a rainbow…_   
_And you’ll find happy times~”_

 

He’d kept the radio going, though he had lowered the volume it seems. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t exactly sleeping yet.

 

It was too tempting to try spying on him. He hadn’t moved too far away. Only to sit on a nearby boulder with his rifle across his legs. She still wondered where he stashed those weapons. Surely that coat wasn’t big enough to conceal everything. Definitely not a _missile launcher_. And who casually carried one of those around? Apparently people who regularly dealt with deathclaws. _The fuck was a matriarch?_

 

_“Though things may look very dark…_   
_Your dream is not in vain…”_

 

He was staring at the stars again. Good thing she didn’t expect any real danger to pop up. But he probably knew that when he suggested taking first watch.

 

_“For when do you find the rainbow?_   
_Only after rain~”_

 

She heard a soft sigh, seeing him slowly lower his gaze towards the ground.

 

_“So wish on the moon…_   
_And someday, it may be tomorrow…_   
_You will suddenly hear chimes~”_

 

“Keep it together, Liam. One more day, maybe two, and you’ll find them. You’ll see them again.”

 

“ _And you’ll have your happy happy times~”_

 

This...seemed like a private moment not meant to intrude on. She shouldn’t be listening to this. But it wasn’t like she could just cover her ears or even turn the other way. Then he would notice she’d been listening. Damn double-edged sword…

 

He started to shift-- _Shit._ \--so she snapped her eyes shut, thinking he might’ve felt her staring.

 

She waited a few breaths before taking a risk cracking open one eye. He hadn’t looked her way. Instead, he seemed to be looking at something in his right hand. She cracked open the other eye to get a better look.

 

A figurine of some kind. Holding some stick-shaped thing and wearing a hat of some type.

 

A tiny soldier maybe? Why would he have…?

 

A thumb delicately swiped across it before he clenched it in his fist, holding it closer.

 

As he raised his face towards the sky again, the moon glinted off of the wedding ring he wore.

 

_“So wish on the moon…_   
_And someday, it may be tomorrow…_   
_You will suddenly hear chimes~”_

 

Suddenly, she wished for a mask to cover her own face as well...

 

“ _And you’ll have your happy happy times~~”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Happy Times_ \- Bob Crosby and the Bobcats


	11. Bomb Drop

They were making good time.

 

Hell, if Liam didn’t know any better, he’d say they were rushing, as if they were on a time limit. Scarlett seemed determined that they cover as much ground as possible today. It wasn’t like they’d been taking their time before; more like keeping a maintainable pace. So what had gotten into her?

 

_“It’s all over but the crying…”_  
_“And nobody’s crying but me...”_

 

He’d had a bit of a breakdown last night, sure. But she couldn’t have seen that. It had been hours since she’d bedded down. He’d even glanced over a few times to make sure.

 

“ _Friends all over know I’m trying…”_

 

The blonde frowned behind his mask. He knew it was probably driving her insane. At first he’d just been wearing it out of habit. Then to get on her nerves on purpose. Last night, though, he’d been glad to hide his face...

 

“ _To forget about how much I care for you…”_

 

...he was glad for it now even, stopping himself from reaching for the soldier figurine again.

 

He wondered when the inevitable prying would begin today. She’d spaced it out, but it was obvious she wanted to know who he really was. He was tempted to just tell her already. But would there be a point? By tomorrow, they’d part ways. Probably never to see each other again.

 

He wasn’t sure he wanted that.

 

_“It’s all over but the crying…_  
_And I can’t get over...crying over you~”_

 

Besides, it would be unfair. She hadn’t needed to help him out. But here they were, heading in the direction he needed to go (He’d checked the compass on his map to confirm this.). He'd been evasive in answering her questions. Not entirely untruthful, no...but holding back telling her who he actually was.

 

“ _It’s all over but the crying~”_

 

“Hey, Scar…”

 

“ _And nobody’s crying but me~”_

 

She hadn’t seemed to hear him, so he tried again. “Scar…”

 

“ _Friends all over know I’m trying~”_

 

Still nothing. He jogged to catch up, stopping short of waving a hand in her face. “Yo. Anyone home?”

 

“ _To forget about how much I care for you~”_

 

“Huh?” Her head snapped in his direction. “What?” She really hadn’t heard him.

 

“ _It’s all over but the dreaming~”_

 

“Well, someone’s focused,” he teased her.

 

She started to resemble her name a little. “Oh, shut up.” Her gaze went straight ahead again. “I’m just trying to make good time.”

 

“ _Poor little dreams that keep trying to come true~”_

 

“I hadn't noticed,” Liam teased again. He tilted his head at her. “Why suddenly so determined to get there so fast?”

 

“Um, well…” He saw her eyes flick to his left hand. “You want to find your friends, don’t you?”

 

“Yeeaaa…” he drew the word out. “But we’re practically running now. Why the sudden speed up?”

 

“ _It’s all over but the crying~”_

 

She was silent for a moment. He wasn’t sure she was going to answer. Then she looked directly at him. “Are you married?”

 

“ _And I can’t get over~”_

 

He almost reeled back at the question. “Wait, what?” Not what he’d expected.

 

“ _Crying over~”_

 

She gestured towards his hand. “Your ring…” He brought it up to look at closer. “It’s a wedding ring, right?”

 

“ _You~~”_

 

He kept his eyes on the ring. “Yea…” He wasn’t sure he wanted to delve into these waters.

 

“Usually only married people wear them.” There was the “are you slow or something?” voice. “So I ask again. Are you married?”

 

“...I was,” he finally relented, knowing he’d regret it.

 

“Was?” Now she had that “crap, should I have stepped in that?” look on her face.

 

“It was a long time ago…” Which was true. While it had only felt like just under a year for him, in truth it had been about sixty years ago.

 

She seemed to hesitate, but curiosity, it seemed, won over. “What happened?”

 

He released a heavy sigh. “She was killed. Shot right in front of me. And there was nothing I could do to stop it...” He could still see the moment clearly in his mind, feel the absolute shock and horror followed by the remorse and wish for revenge. He bet it would’ve shown clearly on his face had he not been wearing the gas mask.

 

_“..._  
_Why does the sun go on shining?_  
_Why does the sea rush to shore?_  
_Don’t they know it’s the end of the world--”_

 

“Damn it, Travis.” He shut it off angrily. He thought he was over it, but that was _not_ helping.

 

She was quiet for a moment, looking at him like she was torn on what to do next. He felt bad for telling her now.

 

“You said you were in a vault, right?”

 

“...yea.”

 

“Did this...happen while you were in the vault?”

 

“...yes…” Where was she going with…?

 

“Did anyone else try to stop it?”

  
  
Ah. So that was it. “No one could. They were all as helpless as me.”

 

She frowned. “Why’s that?”

 

Oh boy, the big question. Dare he drop the bomb, or leave her wondering by refusing to answer?

 

She noticed his hesitation. “Listen, if this is one of those uncomfortable subjects--”

 

“No, it’s--” He shook his head, cutting her off. “It’s alright. You deserve to know. It’s not like it’s some taboo secret…” But how to start…

 

She waited patiently enough. He could tell she was eager to finally get more information.

 

Full plunge it was then. “Vault 111 was secretly an experiment in cryogenics...”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _It's All Over but the Crying_ \- The Ink Spots, _The End of the World_ \- Skeeter Davis


	12. Processing

A cryo vault.

 

People had actually been frozen in pods over two hundred years ago.

 

_Liam was over 200 years old._

 

(“Uh, technically, yea. But since I was essentially...locked in time...I’m more like thirty-one…”)

 

Even with that technicality, he was from over two hundred years ago. As in pre-war. Before the bombs. Before it all went to hell in a nuclear fire handbasket.

 

_“First you say you do, and then you don’t._   
_And then you say you will, and then you won’t._   
_You’re undecided now…_   
_So what are you gonna do?”_

 

Scarlett had to agree with Travis’s latest song choice. She had no clue what to think right now.

 

This explained why he was so reluctant to talk about himself. He would already be looked at differently for being from a vault. But to say he was from 200 years ago? Damn.

 

_“I’ve been sitting on a fence,_   
_And it doesn’t make much sense,_   
_‘Cause you keep me in suspense,_   
_And you know it.”_

 

Hell, she was already catching herself judging him differently, as if being from pre-war would leave some sort of feature that was obvious. Just some little detail that would scream, “Hey, look at me! I’m from out of time!” But that would be silly. It would more likely be on a molecular level. Something she knew nothing about, except that too much radiation screwed with that, and if you started to feel sick, get it taken care of if you didn’t want to mutate.

 

He had to be healthier than the people from today. Was that why he wore the gas mask? Was he more susceptible to radiation damage and thus was trying to keep safe?

 

_“You’re undecided now…_   
_So what are you gonna do~?”_

 

She still wanted to find out. He would probably even tell her if she asked. But she found it wasn’t as important.

 

He’d gone on to say that his wife and infant son had been in the vault as well, locked away in their own pod together. They’d had no clue the “decontamination pods” were actually glorified ice boxes. That pissed her off. Fuck you, Vault-Tec.

 

And then these people from the “Institute” had infiltrated the vault, kidnapped his son, and murdered his wife right in front of him, before setting it so the other residents of the vault died in their pods. He was the sole survivor of Vault 111.

 

No one should go through shit like that.

 

She could somewhat relate, having had her own family and friends destroyed in front of her as she watched on helplessly. A twisted act of “love” and power. That psycho Legionnaire known as Leon had wanted to prove that he’d do whatever it took to keep her by his side, even annihilating entire towns as if to say, “They can't have you.” It hadn’t been the first he had destroyed either. If only they hadn’t been at Eastwood…

 

But the difference there was she hadn’t seen the people. She hadn’t witnessed their murders up close, or gone to count the bodies.

 

Liam had.

 

Scarlett had never been so tempted to hug someone as when she had been listening to Liam’s story.

 

_“If you’ve got a heart, and if you’re kind,_   
_Then don’t keep us apart. Make up your mind._   
_You’re undecided now…_   
_So what are you gonna do~?”_

 

She’d even offered to help him find the kidnapper, but he just said it wasn’t necessary. (“Already taken care of.”) There had been hardly any emotion in his voice when he said that. Which was when she remembered that report on the radio she hadn’t really understood.

 

About the Institute being destroyed. That it was the Railroad’s doing (whoever they were), and that the _Vault Dweller_ had been there…

 

Even if he had his reasons for wearing that mask, she wished she could see what face he’d been making when he said those words. Sadness? Regret? Disappointment at no sense of closure?

 

_“Now if you don’t love me~_   
_I wish you’d say so~_   
_I love you so much honey. I’ve just got to know.”_

 

No, song. She wasn’t falling for him. They’d only know each other for just over a day.

 

_“I’m just a fool for you~_   
_What are you gonna do~~?”_

 

And sure, it had been without any pauses, which meant it was more like a week in wasteland time.

 

But still. No.

 

Besides, what she’d seen last night was still fresh on her mind. The way he’d delicately handled that soldier toy. Held onto it like it was a lifeline. He may still wear the ring from when he’d been married to his late wife, but perhaps there was someone new. One of the friends he was traveling with maybe? She tried to remember what he said about them. Perhaps there was a clue in how he had described them...

 

_“..._   
_That was Ella Fitzgerald, with ‘Undecided’._   
_…_   
_Next up is ‘Worry Worry Worry’ by The Three Suns, which, I’ll admit, up until recently, was something I’d been doing a lot…_

 

_“..._   
_Worry worry worry love is passing me by~”_

 

Oh, he was fucking with her now.

 

_“..._   
_Worry worry, doooo~_   
_Worry worry worry love is passing me by~”_

 

Was her eye twitching?

 

“ _Worry worry worry I’m so painfully shy~”_

 

If it was, she would deny it. Liam better not ask.

 

_“Other guys get all the kisses._   
_Why am I the one who misses?”_

 

For now, she just stuck to staying a few steps behind him. She’d made it clear enough how to get there the rest of the way anyway.

 

“ _Worry worry worry woe is me~”_

 

Ugh.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Undecided_ \- Ella Fitzgerald, _Worry Worry Worry_ \- The Three Suns


	13. Not the Best Company

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a short one, but that's just how they go sometimes.

He felt like there was a dark cloud walking behind him.

 

What the hell was up with Scar? Maybe he shouldn’t have told her all the details about the vault if this was the result... But she’d told him about her own past as well, of being a slave and that crazy guy who kept trying to get her back until she’d managed to end him…

 

“ _...then what will you do~?”_

 

Since she didn’t seem like she wanted to talk anymore--even lingering behind instead of in front or even beside him as they’d done for the rest of their travels--he wasn’t sure what to do about it. So he opted for singing along softly to “Maybe” on the radio.

 

_“Maybe you’ll sit and sigh, wishing that I were near..._   
_Then maybe you’ll ask me to come back again~~_   
_And maybe~_   
_I’ll say maybe~~”_

 

He held back the sigh he felt. He wondered how MacCready was faring. If he was driving the girls crazy with worrying. Or worse, maybe he’d gone off on his own to search for Liam. He better not have done something stupid.

 

Oh no.

 

Not that song.

 

Not while he was thinking of--

 

Too late.

 

There was the opening melody he always hummed along to. Except he didn’t have it in him this time.

 

As if he wasn’t missing the sniper enough.

 

_“Living for you…_   
_Is easy living, it's easy to live…_   
_When you're in love, and I'm so in love..._   
_There's nothing in life, but you...”_

 

It was so incredibly cheesy, but he always associated it with the two of them.

 

Depressed groan incoming.

 

_“I'll never regret…_   
_The years I'm giving, they're easy to give…_   
_When you're in love, I'm happy to do…_   
_Whatever I do, for you.”_

 

Scarlett had to be getting concerned by now. He was so glad for the mask so she couldn’t see the face he was making. He had to look miserable.

 

_“For you...maybe I'm a fool, but it's fun._   
_People say you rule me with one…_   
_Wave of your hand..._   
_Darling, it's grand..._   
_They just don't understand.”_

 

As it was, he had his face pointed towards the ground.

 

_“Living for you…_   
_Is easy living, it's easy to live…”_

 

“Um…” And there it was. The concern. “You alright?”

 

“ _When you're in love, and I'm so in love…”_

 

“Yea…” He tried to keep his voice level, not sure if he was fully succeeding, but damn if he wasn’t going to try.

 

“ _There's nothing in life, but you~”_

 

“Just fine…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Maybe_ \- The Inkspots, _Easy Living_ \- Billie Holiday


	14. Click

Travis seemed to be marathoning all the love songs this hour. And while she was _not_ getting a crush--definitely not--it seemed to be having a negative effect on her traveling companion.

 

Her theory had to be right. He was anxious to return to someone that was more than a friend. That had to be it. Which is why she was not getting a crush. It was just the fact that aside from that merchant, there hadn’t been another person to talk to. Nothing else. At least there wasn’t much left to this trip.

 

That left a twinge of something she ignored.

 

_“Crazy he calls me…_   
_Sure I’m crazy…_   
_Crazy in love I’d say…”_

 

That was talking about Liam.

 

_“I say I’ll go through fire, and I’ll go through fire,_   
_As he wants it, so it will be…_   
_Crazy he calls me…_   
_Sure I’m crazy…_   
_Crazy in love you see…”_

 

He said he was fine, but she was calling bullshit.

 

_“Like the wind that shakes the bow…_   
_He moves me with a smile…_   
_The difficult, I’ll do right now…_   
_The impossible, will take a little while~”_

 

She was going to get this out of him one way or another. “Are you _sure_ you’re alright?”

 

He seemed to jump, glancing back at her for a second before looking forward again. She swore he was purposely standing straighter now. “Yea. Why do you ask?”

 

_“I say I’ll care forever, and I mean forever,_   
_If I have to hold up the sky…_   
_Crazy he calls me…_   
_Sure I’m crazy…_   
_Crazy in love am I…”_

 

She shrugged even though he couldn’t see it, playing nonchalant. Two could play that game. “I don’t know. Just seems like these songs are getting to you.” _As if they aren’t getting to you, too,_ her brain supplied. She told it to shut up.

 

They continued onward towards a pass that weaved between some rocky formations. As they got closer, an odd sense of deja vu filled her. She made sure her rifle was loaded and easy to reach.

 

\---

 

“They’re...not.” Ok, even to himself, that wasn’t the least bit convincing.

 

He could feel the disbelieving brow raise that earned.

 

_“The difficult, I’ll do right now…_   
_The impossible, will take a little while~”_

 

“Ok, maybe a little, they are,” he huffed out.

 

And smug satisfaction. He kept in the groan this time. _Great. The wasteland therapy session I need when I don’t really want it._

 

_“I say I’ll care forever, and I mean forever,_   
_If I have to hold up the sky…”_

 

“Any particular reason they are?”

 

_“Crazy he calls me…_   
_Sure I’m crazy…_   
_Crazy in love am I~~”_

 

Oh thank god that song was done. But he still had a question to answer, and he knew she wasn’t going to just drop it this time.

 

_Click._

 

Liam frowned behind his mask. _What...?_

 

He looked down, and froze.

 

Scarlett nearly bumped into him, stopping as well with a confused look on her face. "What is it?"

 

"Scar..."

 

Now she frowned. "What..?"

 

"Don't panic..."

 

Her brows started to rise.

 

"...but I just stepped over a mine."

 

Wide eyes automatically flew down towards his feet, spying the telltale disc shape under the edge of his boot.

 

"Shit."

 

At least a dozen mines were scattered across the sand, spaced out so that if one blew, it would set off a chain reaction.

 

They were surrounded.

 

_Shit indeed._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Crazy He Calls Me_ \- Billie Holiday


	15. Bait and Switch

"Well, looky here. Looks like we caught a couple of rats in our here trap."

 

He shot his gaze forward, suppressing a glare even though they wouldn't have seen it anyway.

 

Three guys, raiders by the looks of them, had stepped out from behind the rock face, eyeing them with varying grins on their faces. It was jackpot for them.

 

Except...--and Liam thought fast here--there was a slight issue with their plan they seemed to have overlooked, and he planned to point it out.

 

"So you got us." He shrugged, acting unimpressed. "Congratulations."

 

"What are you doing?" Scar hissed at him through her teeth.

 

"Just watch," he whispered back, before raising his voice for them to hear again. "One problem though."

 

Idiot raider number one frowned at him. "Oh yea? What's that?"

 

"We're in the middle of a mine field." He gestured around. "You're over there outside of it." He gestured towards the idiot raiders. "How did you plan to rob us?"

 

Idiot raider number two tried to prove his intelligence. "Well, we'll--we'll shoot you of course!" He failed to keep the slight uncertainty out of his voice. Just what Liam had planned.

 

"Ah, but there's a problem with that."

 

Two frowned. "What?"

 

"I’m currently standing on a mine..." He swept his hand downward, directing their gazes to his boot, still on the edge of a glowing disk. "And if you were to shoot me, the weight I have on said mine would be removed, blowing me sky high and setting off the rest of your _carefully placed_ mines, putting yourselves at risk of being blown up, too."

 

Two seemed unsure. Idiot raider number three finally spoke. "So we'll shoot you from a distance!" He looked oh-so-smug at his clever solution.

 

"Ah, but we would still be blown up, risking damage to our precious belongings, lowering their value or destroying them completely." _Hello, Charmer._

 

That seemed to stump them all. They just stared for a moment, then looked at each other. Number one finally spoke up. "So what would you suggest?"

 

He had them. "Well, the solution is obvious." He brought up both hands to emphasize his words. "You'll just need to come over here to get them, and then afterwards you can shoot us from a safe distance." Two--or was that Three?--seemed to accept that, while Three--Two??--just looked confused. One still looked a bit skeptical. " _Surely_ you know where all your mines are since you placed them so cleverly."

 

_Hold the bluff. Hold the bluff. Give them a second._ He could feel Scarlett gripping the back of his coat tightly. She seemed to be trusting he knew what he was doing. He hoped he did too.

 

"...that does make sense..." One finally said.

 

Liam smirked, unseen. These guys really were idiots. "So it's decided then. Since we obviously can't do anything in our current situation, we'll just wait here."

 

"Wait," One held up a hand.

 

Crap. Were they seeing through the bluff?

 

"Which one us is going over there?" He looked at his fellow raiders. " _I_ know where all the mines are, but you know how I am. Nowhere _near_ agile enough to step around them mines."

 

"Well, I'm not going over there neither," Two--Three? Oh who cared anymore.--spoke up. “I wasn't the one who planted them. I could step on one of them."

 

They looked at the third guy. "Don't look at me." He sounded offended.

 

One by one they kept coming up with reasons why they shouldn't be expected to collect the loot. They valued their life too much.

 

Now was their chance.

 

"Scar..." Liam whispered. "Straight behind us, there are no mines. When I give the word, you run. After ten feet, the mines will end. Keep running until you reach the end of the rock face, and hide behind it."

 

"Wait, are you crazy??" She whispered back, hysterics entering her voice. "And leave you here?!"

 

"I'll be fine." He kept his voice calm, focusing on the raiders ahead. They seemed to have degraded into a version of "rock, paper, scissors" that kept tying in various ways. There was only so much time before they noticed what he'd planned.

 

She eyed him skeptically, still seeming hesitant.

 

“...” _Hell with it_. He made a decision, just as “One More Tomorrow” began to play its opening tune over his radio. Pulling off his coat, he threw it over her shoulders, spinning her around, and shoving her into a run.

 

“Just _move!_ ”

 


	16. Ballet

There was no time to protest. That move had caught the attention of the raiders.

 

She ran, idly noting this coat was a lot heavier than she thought it was. That’s when a stray bullet glanced off her shoulder.

 

It was armored.

 

That explained the weight, and why he’d kept it on even in the heat.

 

But that also meant he’d given her his armor…

 

She started to turn her head, but stopped, remembering she was supposed to run past the mines, and take cover behind the rock face. He better not be sacrificing himself, or she would kill him.

 

\---

 

He spun back around as the first bullet whizzed by. He knew they‘d start shooting when she started to run. That was why he’d practically thrown his coat at her. It was lined with ballistic material, which should be enough to take the brunt of any shots aimed her way.

 

They seemed to be lousy shots.

 

Worked for him.

 

In the words of MacCready, _Let’s get this show on the road._

 

He launched himself forward, pulling out his rifle just as his boot left the mine.

 

They jerked back in surprise, color draining from their faces. He took the opportunity to hit the first target while they were still unmoving.

 

“ _One more tomorrow…”_

 

One down.

 

“ _To hold you in my embrace…”_

 

Two to go.

 

“ _And thrill with rapture…”_

 

He continued at them as they snapped out of it, realizing he wasn’t setting off a single mine, firing in a panic as he zig-zagged in attempt to dodge. He managed to avoid the bullets whizzing at him pretty well--

 

_Crick!_

 

_Fuck._

 

\--but not them all.

 

“ _Each time I look at your face…”_

 

He reeled back, blinking as his vision half-filled with red. One of them had managed to land a shot at his face, the gas mask luckily taking the brunt of it as the left lens was shot out.

 

“ _One more tomorrow…”_

 

He thought he heard Scar shout in alarm, but he paid her no mind, instead regaining his composure enough to shoot the guy’s pistol out of his hand.

 

“ _To see heaven in your eyes…”_

 

It was followed by more shots than he actually needed to finish the guy off, half of them missing as he was now literally shooting half-blind.

 

“ _To have your hand cling to mine…”_

 

He could hear himself half-growling as the adrenaline kicked in.

 

“ _And wander through paradise…”_

 

His accuracy took a big hit as his depth perception was now hindered, but he managed more blows than they did--

 

“ _One more tomorrow…”_

 

\--finally ending the second guy.

 

“ _To kiss your lips constantly…”_

 

One to go.

 

“ _And feel the pounding…”_

 

The last guy--he couldn’t remember how he numbered them anymore--was barely holding his rifle straight anymore, shooting wide-eyed glances over his shoulder as if he was about to flee.

 

“ _As your heart beats next to me…”_

 

Liam rushed him. The guy turned and ran, practically pissing himself in panic.

 

“ _One more tomorrow…”_

 

And dropped just beyond a boulder as the blonde’s bullet hit true. He waited, watching.

 

The guy didn’t even twitch. Letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, he turned, heading back towards the beginning of the minefield. Might as well disarm these.

 

“ _Filled with love the whole day through…”_

 

_Chink._

 

_What…?_ Liam’s eyes widened as he paused, turning to see the grenade he’d heard the pin pulled from arc through the air--

 

The raider grimace-grinned triumphantly from the crumpled half-sit he’d managed to pull himself into, arm still extended in front of him.

 

\--and land at the edge of the mines.

 

“ _And then tomorrow I’d beg…”_

 

_Shit._

 

He dropped to the ground, reaching for the mine closest to his feet.

 

_bom-bom-bom-BOM-BOM-BOMM-_ _**BOMMM~~** _

 

“ _ **LIAM!”**_

 

That was the last thing he heard before the explosions took over.

 

“ _For one more tomorrow with you~”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used: _One More Tomorrow_ \- Frankie Carle and Marjorie Hughes


	17. You are so Dead

Scarlett jerked back behind the rock wall, huddling under the leather coat as pebbles and debris flew everywhere. She stayed like that for a few moments...before remembering to breathe since she’d apparently stopped at some point.

 

“Oh god…”

 

Liam was…

 

He’d been right in the middle of the minefield, heading back after taking out those raiders--in a very impressive way she might add, almost dancing across the mines that never once threatened to detonate under his feet. She’d never seen anything like it.

 

It was eerie.

 

She’d been alarmed to see one of the goggle eyes of his gas mask get shot out, blood coloring the skin underneath. But he’d been walking back so confidently as he swept his gaze across the--apparently harmless to him--field, she’d become less concerned.

 

...until she'd spotted the grenade flying through the air at the same time he did.

 

And it set off a chain reaction.

 

All the mines had gone off.

 

He’d been in the middle of them.

 

There was no way he was--

 

She was not tearing up.

 

A fast beat of music echoed around the rocks.

 

Her head shot up.

 

_“Everyone tells me he’s no good._   
_He doesn’t love me like he should._   
_I would forget him if I only could~”_

 

No fucking way...

 

_“He's a demon._   
_He's a devil._   
_He's a doll…”_

 

He couldn’t have survived. Pip-boys just had to be pretty tough. That’s all.

 

She slowly uncurled herself, peeking out from around the rocks.

 

_“That man can look me in the eye..._   
_And tell the biggest, sweetest lie...”_

 

Either he’d died while kneeling, or there was a strange-colored rock in the middle of the now-blackened mine-less field.

 

Her mind couldn’t process which.

 

Slowly, she stood up from her cover, hesitating a second before starting to walk forward, keeping an eye on the ground in case the “perfectly placed” mines weren’t in fact so “perfectly placed” to all be set off.

 

_“Sometimes I make up my mind..._   
_That I'll stop being so blind..._   
_And tell him off real bad...”_

 

If he was alive, she’d be giving him an earful.

 

“ _I ought to tell him "drop dead!"”_

 

She snorted. Oh yea she would.

 

...if he was even alive.

 

_Stop. You don’t know that._

 

As she got closer, her mind finally decided that was definitely a person kneeling on the ground with their head bowed, and the subtle rise and fall of shoulders that indicated breathing.

 

He was alive!

 

_“Sometimes he thrills me through and through..._   
_Sometimes he's sweet, sometimes he's true…_   
_Sometimes I wish he was in Timbuktu~”_

 

_He was so dead._

 

_“He's a demon._   
_He's a devil._   
_He's a doll…”_

 

But she should really check if he was ok. Looked like all the mines really had gone off. She didn’t know how he survived that, but he couldn’t have gone unscathed.

 

As she got closer, she noticed the layer of dust and dirt on his clothes that turned the khaki tones even more of a brownish-beige. That explained him resembling a rock from a distance… His breathing was also shakier than she’d like. But that was better than _not_ breathing.

 

She kneeled down beside him, lifting her hand to the shoulder closest to her--but paused, not really sure if she should touch him. She pulled her hand back a little. “Uh...hey. Are you...alright?”

 

A cough was her answer, before he carefully lifted his head, giving her a better view of the shot out lens. “Anyone get the number of that truck?” A strangled voice asked.

 

Assuming that was some old world joke, she ignored it, frowning at him instead. “How the hell did you survive--” That was when she spotted the mine at his feet. The _undetonated_ mine he still had his hand on.

 

The lights were off.

 

She blinked rapidly. “You...disarmed that before it could blow.”

 

“Huh? Oh.” He glanced down at the mine under his hand. “Yea. It’s...not really that complicated.”

 

…

 

“You have an armored coat. You can disable mines. You don’t set them off. _And you didn’t think to tell me this before making me run?!_ ”

 

She may have gotten a little hysterical.

 

Just a bit.

 

He seemed to shrink into himself, afraid she was going to hit him. “I didn’t really have the chance?”

 

_“He's a palooka, he's a brute..._   
_He drives me crazy but he's cute..._   
_Why do I love a guy I ought to shoot...”_

 

She really should shoot him.

 

“ _He's a demon, he's a devil, he is a doll~”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _He's a Demon, He's a Devil, He's a Doll_ \- Betty Hutton


	18. RIP Gas Mask

Honestly, he didn’t know how he’d survived that either. He’d acted fast, disabling the nearest mine and hoping the shockwaves of its neighbors wouldn’t be strong enough to disable _him_.

 

He'd probably used up all his luck from that act alone.

 

Unless Scarlett decided to finish the mines’ job. With the death glare she was sending him, he wouldn’t be surprised.

 

Carefully shifting into a sitting position--not without a few pained grunts and softening Scar’s pissed off frown into a concerned one--he lifted a hand to his eye out of reflex to check the damage, but pulled his fingers back when they were met with the jagged edge of broken glass.

 

“ _Folks, I'd like to take a moment for something a little more...personal than usual…”_

 

Damn. That glass wasn’t weak either. If he hadn’t been wearing it at the time…

 

“ _As I'm sure you know all too well, I haven't always been the best at this job.”_

 

Liam didn’t want to think about it.

 

“ _Hey, let's face it, I've been pretty terrible.”_

 

He glanced at his pip-boy, muttering, “Ok, so he’s talking about that again…” before deeming the mask more of a hindrance at this point--he had a collection of them, so it wasn’t like he was too attached to this one--placing his militia hat aside so he could rip off the mask.

 

“ _Thanks to the efforts of a few of my friends, I've decided to change how I look at things--how I live my life.”_

 

Ignoring Scarlett’s intake of breath--he knew she’d been curious as hell about how his face looked--he took a second to study the blown out goggle before tossing it aside with a grunt.

 

Rest in peace, gas mask. You served him well.

 

Carefully, he checked for the damage again, wincing when he found the cuts his brow had taken. Better that than his eye at least. Realizing he wasn’t permanently half-blind, he tried squinting his left eye open, still noticing a bit of red in his vision even though the bleeding had slowed.

 

“ _I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank the Vault Dweller for lending me a hand…”_

 

“So they _are_ blue…”

 

He blinked, being mindful of the blood. “What?”

 

“ _I...really do...appreciate it…”_

 

“Your eyes. I pictured them as blue for some reason.” Was she blushing? He liked that he was somehow still living, so he neglected to point that out.

 

Instead, he gave a bemused, “Ok…”

 

“ _Alright folks! That's enough sentiment from me for today…_

 

“ _Let's get it on back to the music, shall we?”_

 

His eye took this chance to remind him that it did not like having blood in it by stinging at him. He checked his pockets for a cloth he could use--

 

“ _Here’s Roy Brown, with ‘Mighty Mighty Man’--”_

 

\--pausing for a second to shut off the radio. He wasn’t a fan of that song, even if he did associate it with one of the brighter days he’d had after waking up. He and MacCready had been standing in the lobby of Sandy Coves Convalescent Home, waiting out a rad storm as Liam debated on what to do with the deathclaw egg they’d recovered. Sell it for a nice profit, or risk death doing the right thing by returning it? He’d had the radio on at the time, and that song came on… That hadn’t been the bright point. It had been _later_ , after he’d ultimately decided to and had returned the deathclaw egg to its mother...and it hadn’t mauled them. In fact, it had seemed docile. But that didn’t mean he wanted to stick around. Except, after retreating a few yards away, MacCready had chosen that moment to properly thank him for his help in getting the cure for his son...and Liam had worked up the nerve to admit how he felt about him...

 

“ _You…”_

 

Oh. Crap.

 

He abandoned his search--as well as his reminiscing--head snapping up.

 

The raider was still alive.

 

He was barely standing, a dribble of blood coming from the corner of his mouth, looking like the slightest wind could knock him over...but he held one advantage over them.

 

A pistol pointed directly at them, and murderous intent in his eyes.

 

“Shit,” he heard Scarlett swear beside him.

 

His sentiments exactly.

 


	19. SO Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to come up with titles for these things. 8|

So the mystery was finally revealed. Liam had ditched the gas mask, revealing his face to the world.

 

Too bad it was because he’d gotten shot and the mask had taken the brunt of it. That looked rather painful. But it was probably the type of thing that bled worse than it actually was. At least it was only his eyebrow that got cut up and not the eye itself.

 

Speaking of, they were the clearest blue she’d ever seen, almost a gray even. Scary that that’s what she pictured him having…

 

She was about to suggest some stimpaks since he had to be pretty beaten up from the mines going off around him.

 

And that’s when the raider reappeared.

 

She thought he’d died in the blast!

 

Apparently not.

 

He’d probably just gotten knocked out from the shockwave of it; it was obvious he could barely stand.

 

But he had a pistol aimed directly at them.

 

Aimed at Liam.

 

She almost swore again. She could fire her rifle. But the guy had his finger on the trigger, ready to fire at any time. By the calculating glare Liam wore, she assumed he had come to the same conclusion. And the best part, they were nowhere near cover.

 

They were so screwed.

 

But no way in hell she’d go down without a fight.

 

She whipped up her laser rifle--

 

_BAM!_

 

\--and froze as red suddenly bloomed from the guy’s forehead. He lurched forward, looking shocked for a split second before the pistol fell to the ground, followed shortly by the now-dead raider.

 

The smoking barrel of a recently fired pistol was lowered back to the side of a figure who stood in the raider’s place.

 

\---

 

The red goggles were the first thing he noticed. Followed by the rest of the dark army helmet/mask combo and trench coat over molded chest armor. The guy seemed to regard them for a moment before reholstering his gun.

 

Ok. So he meant them no harm and had just saved their asses. Who was--

 

“James!” Scarlett leapt up, running over to hug the guy. Liam blinked a few times, looking off to the side and back.

 

This mysterious guy seemed perfectly fine with her hugging him as a greeting. “Scarlett.” So they knew each other…

 

Wait.

 

Wasn’t one of the friends she had mentioned getting separated from named James? She’d only said he was dressed as an NCR Ranger, but like hell if he knew what one of those was. Until now.

 

“How did you find us?”

 

“I’ve been tracking you since the ambush.” The mask gave his voice a bit of a “radio” sound. “Lost the trail after that dust storm, but this morning I found a dead deathclaw and the remains of a camp...” He glanced at Liam, before turning back towards her. “...so I followed the trail from there, until I heard a bunch of explosions. I didn’t expect I’d find you in the middle of them. Or that you’d have company...” He looked to the blonde again as he finished his sentence.

 

Liam suddenly felt like his worth was being weighed. He really wished he wasn’t on the ground right now.

 

“Liam O’Keeffe.”

 

He froze, feeling like a deer in the headlights.

 

“General of the Minutemen…”

 

Scar frowned, turning a suspicious stare at him. He shifted his eyes, avoiding her gaze. Yea, that was something he’d neglected to tell her. He would’ve gotten around to it. ...eventually.

 

“Agent of the Railroad…”

 

He started to hold up a finger in the classic “now wait a second”--

 

“Destroyer of the Brotherhood of Steel’s airship and the dreaded Institute…”

 

\--and dropped it again, shutting his mouth in the process.

 

“And overall saviour of the Commonwealth,” he concluded.

 

“...have you been talking to my friend Deacon?”

 

“Your reputation precedes you.”

 

He stared.

 

The guy looked away. “...and I happen to have a radio that gained access to a station from the Commonwealth a few months back.”

 

“...ah.” That explained it.

 

Finding another mask was tempting to add to his to-do list.

 

Especially with Scarlett looking all annoyed at him again.

 

He started to shrink away from her out of reflex, but winced as his body reminded him of the beating it took from the mines. He could definitely use a stimpak. Or three.

 

It succeeded in turning the annoyed look into a concerned one again. Not what he intended--on purpose anyway--but definitely preferred. “Are you going to be ok?”

 

“Yea, just...give me a minute…” He reached behind himself, pulling out a stimpak seemingly from nowhere.

 

The “ranger” stared at this, then turned that stare on Scar. She gave him a double-take, and just shrugged.

 

He ignored them, injecting himself with the healing medication, releasing a short sigh as it took off the edge. His brow slowly stopped stinging too. But that didn’t remove the blood that had already spilled, so he retrieved a piece of cloth in the same way, wiping away what he could. Ironic how it was the same brow he already had scarred. Would be even funnier if it was the same spot too.

 

That out of the way, he got to his feet, slapping off the dirt and dust in a giant cloud-- _Heh. Like Dusty Dude’s namesake story._ \--stooping to pick up his hat and do the same to it. It amazingly hadn’t taken much wear. Still the same amount of fraying on the edges. Pretty good for the hat of one of the old Minutemen.

 

“Right then…” Putting it back in its rightful place atop his head, he stalked past the other two, heading for the downed raiders.

 

James stared after him. “What are you doing?”

 

“Checking for ammo, caps, and stuff to sell, of course,” he shot back over his shoulder.

 

Scarlett stared. “...you know, that’s a good point,” she said after a moment, walking with purpose towards one of the other bodies.

 

The pseudo-ranger just shook his head, throwing his hands up in defeat.

 


	20. News

James said they were pretty close to where Twig, Bonnie, and Larry were camped. He’d managed to spot them just before the explosions caught his attention, so that’s where they were headed now. With any luck, maybe they’d find Liam’s friends soon, too.

 

She took the opportunity to observe him as they walked. It was...weird not seeing that gas mask. Weird in a fascinating way.

 

He was also skinnier than she realized. That big coat had done a good job hiding that.

 

...oh. Right. She still had his coat.

 

“Um…” She waited until he glanced her way. “You should probably take this back…” She slipped off the heavy thing, passing it over. Damn, she felt like she was floating now without all that weight on her shoulders.

 

Liam didn’t seem bothered by the weight at all, swinging it around to shrug back into it and adjusting the collar to how he liked. It definitely suited him.

 

...she would not say that out loud.

 

Fighting away the start of a blush, instead she asked, “Why did you give it to me anyway?”

 

He stopped his pat-down of the pockets, checking that nothing had fallen out--she noted his hand lingered at the top left area the longest--but kept his head forward, flicking his eyes in her direction before facing them ahead again. She felt like he’d done that multiple times over the last day he had his face hidden. “I figured those raiders might try to shoot you in the back, so...just to be safe, y’know?” he shrugged.

 

“But...it’s your _armor_. Even if you knew you wouldn’t set off the mines, you had to suspect something could still go wrong.”

 

“...my clothes are actually armored too.” He refused to look at her. “Not as much as this,” Liam plucked at the coat’s collar, “but...yea. Ballistic fiber.”

 

She blinked. That explained the relatively low amount of injuries he’d gained. A mixture of annoyance and impressed filled her and she wasn’t sure which one to go with…

 

“Besides, I’d have done the same for any of my friends,” he added on.

 

...and then it went away to be replaced with a combination of...happy, yet...disappointed? She wasn’t going to touch that. Nope.

 

James chose this moment to interrupt. Probably for the best. “We’re not far from their camp now, if they haven’t already left.” He glanced back over his shoulder, right at Liam. “By the way, were you traveling with others?”

 

“Hm? Yea. Why?” It was...interesting being able to actually see the expressions he was making now. His current one showed that had definitely caught his attention.

 

“When I was checking out your camp from last night, some people found the deathclaw I’m assuming you killed…”

 

There was a question in that statement, one the blonde acknowledged with a nod.

 

And oh boy, had he killed it. Scar still didn’t know where he was keeping the missile launcher. Or anything for that matter. Worse still, she was beginning to get used to it.

 

“Did you happen to get a look at them?” Did his eyes just get brighter?

 

“Briefly. I didn’t want to risk getting seen.” He glanced forward again, keeping track of where they were going. “But there were three women, one man…”

 

His brows rose a little as he nodded, silently asking James to continue.

 

“I could only make out so much, but the women… One had red hair and was wearing a sleeveless red vest…”

 

She saw him mouth the name “Cait”.

 

“...the second had a red leather trench coat and...a flat cap maybe?”

 

“Piper”.

 

“...the third… It was hard to tell she was a woman at first since her hair was so short and she had on a black trench coat…”

 

He nodded. “Curie”.

 

“And the guy… He had--”

 

“Worn leather duster, faded green hat?”

 

James nodded.

 

Liam nodded again, placing his hand over the left side of his coat again. “MacCready,” he quietly mumbled the last name to himself. “That’s them alright.” She might have imagined it, but she swore she saw his eyes tighten at the corners for a second.

 

That soldier toy Liam had been handling so carefully last night…

 

Did that mean…?

 


	21. Reconvene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we throw in more characters and I struggle to give them all enough air time and keep them in character. =D Whee?

James had seen them. At his and Scarlett’s camp. That meant they were close. So close.

 

Soon he’d be reunited with his friends.

 

Soon he’d see MacCready again.

 

His heart pounded with anticipation. Except for the beating only he could hear, no other sound was made, the other two probably thinking he needed a moment to himself, or just not having anything to say right now.

 

He didn’t really like how quiet it was so he reached for the radio, curious what was on now--

 

“ _\--’ll be fifteen minutes of kissing, then you’ll holler please don’--”_

 

\--and clicked it off right away. He could live with the silence.

 

...was it getting warmer out here?

 

Scar was looking at him curiously. If she asked about that song, he wasn’t going to answer. He ignored her staring, hoping he wasn’t blushing too badly.

 

“We’re here.”

 

Liam paid more attention now, realizing he’d been traveling on autopilot. It was never good when he did that. They were approaching some kind of natural rock alcove up ahead. He could hear voices coming from it, slowly getting more clear as they got closer...

 

“...gotta be more left…know I had more in here…” A guy’s voice, slightly whiny, accompanied by a rustling sound.

 

“You drank the last one a few hours ago…” A woman, almost innocent-sounding but not quite.

 

“Don’t tell him that. This is mildly entertaining.” And a slightly rough guy’s voice.

 

He could probably put names to the voices alone…

 

As they rounded the rocks, the makeshift campsite came into view. A woman who looked a little younger than Scarlett knelt, lighting some sticks for a fire. Bonnie. Off to the side, a ghoul--had to be Larry--in a khaki-colored jacket and leather cap was looking amused at the last figure, sitting on a log as he dug through a travel pack.

 

Blue vault suit with leather armor pieces. Pip-boy (Was it burned out?) on his arm. Bit on the portly side. This had to be Twig.

 

The girl noticed them first. “James. _Scar!_ ” At that, she leapt up, running over to hug the other woman. “We’ve been worried.”

 

Twig, finally giving up his search for who-knows-what, did something of a double-take, “Scar!” jumping up to run over.

 

Scarlett aimed her rifle at him.

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” The vault dweller held up his hands in surrender. “You’re not gonna shoot me, are you?”

 

She leveled a glare and the rifle at him for a second, before dropping both. “Nah, I wouldn’t go that far. Lord knows I’ve been tempted though.”

 

“Hey, Scar.” Larry gave a short wave. “Glad you’re, uh, not dead.”

 

“Likewise, Larry.” She gave a short nod, turning back to Twig, who kept shooting wary glances at the rifle even though it was no longer aimed at him.

 

She rolled her eyes--“Oh, get over here.”--pulling him into a hug.

 

And slapped the back of his head when they drew back.

 

“Ow!” He gripped the spot she’d hit, looking at her slightly betrayed. “What was that for?”

 

She pointed at him. “Never do that again.” And walked into the camp to put down her pack as Twig followed a little behind.

 

“This about those raiders? ‘Cause it’s not my fault they had grenades…”

 

“But it’s your fault for not telling me which way you were going to run!”

 

Liam watched the unfolding argument, bemused. They were bickering like siblings, going back and forth, back and forth. It was obvious they cared about each other.

 

He finally noticed the younger woman, Bonnie he reminded himself, regarding him curiously.

 

“Um…” He nodded. “Hello.” He extended a hand. “Liam O’Keeffe, Boston Commonwealth.”

 

She took the hand, accepting the greeting. “Bonnie, of...well, that’s what we’re trying to find out,” she said with a sad smile.

 

He shot her a sympathetic look. “Scar mentioned that.”

 

She waved off the unsaid apology. “You two know each other well?”

  
  
He smirked. “Well, actually, we’ve only been traveling together for just over a day…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Sixty Minute Man_ \- Billy Ward and His Dominoes


	22. Homesick

Scarlett’s friends were much more interesting in person; he could definitely say that.

 

They’d accepted him easily enough, too.

 

Though it didn’t help that Scar had gotten a bit of “revenge” by casually listing off a few of his more _prominent_ titles: General of the Minutemen, destroyer of the Brotherhood’s airship, and vanquisher (her word) of the biggest “boogeyman” of the Commonwealth, the Institute.

 

Oh, how the questions had flown after that. And the smirk she had tossed him as they began.

 

She was so dead.

 

Hell, he’d already had to deal with Twig practically “fanboying” over his pip-boy (“Is that a 3000 Mk IV?”), talking about how he’d had to sacrifice his in order to get an ammunition plant running again, and that he missed having it, but was managing. He’d even asked if the radio worked. Liam was again bemused by this, but obliged by tuning to Diamond City Radio by default. It wasn’t like he knew any of the local stations anyway.

 

_“The roads are the dustiest,_  
_The winds are the gustiest,_  
_The gates are the rustiest,_  
_The pies are the crustiest.”_

 

He found himself thinking of his friends again as the others talked to Scar, exchanging details of their travels. No deathclaws or minefields for them it seems.

 

_“The friends the trustiest,_  
_Way back home (Back home)~”_

 

He didn’t fail to catch the disbelieving glances sent his way as certain details were brought up. Huh. Preceding reputation or not, looked like Liam was going to make a name of himself out here anyway. So much for a vacation out of the limelight...

 

_“The folks the happiest_  
_Way back home~”_

 

Hopefully things in Sanctuary and the rest of the Commonwealth were running ok. He may joke about being the “savior” of the Commonwealth, but it really did seem like so many things relied on him to just exist. All those Railroad checkpoints and settlements for example… It always came upon him to defend them. Or at least it seemed that way.

 

_“Don't know why I left the homestead~_  
_I really must confess~_  
_I'm a weary exile..._  
_Singing my song of loneliness~”_

 

He almost pulled out the wooden soldier figurine like he had last night. But he didn’t really want to do that in front of the others. They’d probably understand the meaning to him carrying it, but...he just felt like keeping it to himself. Something private between him and MacCready. Even if that was silly.

 

Instead, he settled for checking that his wedding ring was still in its rightful place on the hand of the arm laid across his lap.

 

_“(The hearts?) The hearts the singiest~_  
_(The arms?) The arms the clingiest~_  
_Way back home~”_

 

“Something on your mind?”

 

Liam’s head snapped up, finding Bonnie watching him from nearby. He hadn’t been as sneaky as he’d thought. He wasn’t sure what to say, feeling like he’d been caught doing something he should feel guilty for. Which was also silly.

 

“More like some _one,_ right?”

 

He turned his gaze on Scar, noticing her triumphant smirk. She wasn’t done with her “revenge” it seemed.

 

...but how did she know that? He hadn’t gotten the chance to say anything. He’d only told her of his late wife, and then she’d left him alone as apology for bringing up such a depressing subject. He mentally frowned in calculation, wondering what she’d figured out.

 

“Oooh. Were you traveling with a _special someone_?”

 

...he didn’t like how Larry had said that. With a sort of...wavy finger thing and crooked toothed grin. That line gave off the distinct impression of “dirty old man”...which might not be too inaccurate, considering he was a ghoul.

 

He also realized he didn’t deny it, something the younger woman picked up on. “Ohh, so who’s the lucky girl?” He swore her eyes were sparkling. Suddenly, the impression of hopeful innocence he got from her at their meeting felt like an illusion. She probably was normally hopeful and mostly innocent, but there was a cleverness hidden under there.

 

“Who says it has to be a girl?” Scar threw in before he could even debate on correcting her, causing him to double-take.

 

Ok, what was going on? What had he missed?

 

_“Stars the shootiest~_  
_(The grins the funniest)_  
_The smiles the sunniest..._  
_Way back home~”_

 

“But who says it’s not?” Bonnie threw right back at her. “There are _three_ girls in his group, remember?”

 

“Still the chance it’s not.”

 

Liam suddenly felt like he was sitting in a tennis match, with his head as the ball.

 

“Care to correct us?”

 

He stared at the younger of the two again. How had this gotten out of his control? Liam opened his mouth with a finger raised...and then dropped it, frowning in thought. Three could play this game.

 

“Tell you what...” He straightened up slowly as he began, crossing his arms across his chest. “Speculate as much as you want. I won’t acknowledge if you’re right or wrong.”

 

_“The pals are the readiest~_  
_The gals are the steadiest~”_

 

He was determined to “stubborn” this out. Charmer wasn’t just good at getting information out of people. He could keep information to himself, too.

 

“The answer is obvious.”

 

They all collectively turned to stare at the "ranger" who had remained quietly at the edge of the camp, waiting for him to continue.

 

...

 

...

 

Twig cracked first, “Well..??” flapping his hand in a "keep going" gesture.

 

“...never said I'd say what it was.” The smirk was obvious.

 

They all stared, dumbfounded.

 

_“The love the liveliest._  
_The life the loveliest.”_

 

Liam couldn't help it. He started to chuckle, slowly doubling over into full laughter.

 

The stares turned on him.

 

_“Way back~_  
_Way back~”_

 

James let out a small chuckle of his own.

 

This guy was definitely on his friends list.

 

_“Way back home~_  
_(No place like home)_  
_Sweet home~~”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Way Back Home_ \- Bob Crosby and the Bobcats


	23. Hope

He hadn’t cracked.

 

Try as they might, Liam wasn’t talking. He was getting too much of a kick out of them speculating to see if he’d react and let something slip. But no. He’d brought out his poker face. ...or rather, he was too amused by it all to do much more than smirk.

 

Though Scarlett seemed to know somehow and was likely just trying to confirm it. He still didn’t know what had given him away. Had he done something subconsciously over the past few days? The only time he could think of him doing anything had been the other night when he’d been keeping watch. He’d just needed to look at the wooden soldier MacCready had given him as a thank you token; he’d carried it ever since that day. The same day he’d confessed his feelings on…

 

_“Got a doll, baby, I love her so._   
_Nothing else like her anywhere you go.”_

 

But Scarlett had been asleep. He was sure of it.

 

_“Man, she's anything but calm._   
_A regular pint sized atom bomb.”_

 

...hadn’t she?

 

_“Atom bomb baby, little atom bomb._   
_I want her in my wigwam._   
_She's just the way I want her to be._   
_A million times hotter than TNT~”_

 

He wasn’t sure if James had really figured it out or not, but he wasn’t talking either. Only said he’d be keeping the perimeter safe. They hadn’t seen him the rest of the night. Even now as they traveled the rest of the way to Freeside (apparently one needed to go there before entering Vegas), he’d only made brief appearances.

 

_“Atom bomb baby loaded with power._   
_Radioactive as a TV tower.”_

 

That was the thing. If they were so close to reaching Vegas and his friends seemed to be heading that way too...why were they all going with him? Welcomed into their dysfunctional family group or not, he barely knew most of them. And they were on their own quest, to find the town Bonnie had been abducted from. Wasn’t she anxious to find it?

 

_“A nuclear fission in her soul._   
_Loves with electronic control.”_

 

Bonnie had just shrugged it off. (“My town’s not going anywhere.”)

 

_“Atom bomb baby, little atom bomb._   
_I want her in my wigwam._   
_She's just the way I want her to be._   
_A million times hotter than TNT~”_

 

He hadn’t been sure how to respond to that. And Scar pointed out how she wasn’t going to “just ditch him after all the crap they'd been through together”. He hadn’t said it, but he was grateful. He also didn’t want to say goodbye just yet…

 

So here they were. Traveling to Vegas via Freeside. Twig lamenting how he hoped they’d find more Nuka-Cola soon (oh if he could see Liam’s stash right now); Larry refusing to lend him any caps for it because he’d never be able to afford the interest rate (again, if they could see Liam’s stash); Scar rolling her eyes at them and saying how they were both idiots...

 

“...one person… ...’d listen to…music out here…”

 

...a distant voice commenting on music?

 

Liam stopped, straining to hear better.

 

“...said th...time we heard someone listening to music and it turned out to be a trader.”

 

He turned his head as it got slightly louder, trying to pinpoint the direction. He was vaguely aware of the others all slowly stopping as well. He ignored their curious stares.

 

_“Atom bomb baby, boy she can start._   
_One of those chain reactions in my heart.”_

 

“Well, they weren’t listening ta Diamond City Radio, now were they? Who out here would know about a shite station like tha'?”

 

Irish accent. Knowing the station by name. He started to feel hopeful.

 

_“A big explosion, big and loud._   
_Mushrooms me right up on a cloud.”_

 

“I find it pleasantly entertaining.”

 

Was that…?

 

“No one asked ya, Curie! ...right. Sorry. Shouldn’t have snapped at ya.”

 

That was definitely Cait’s voice!

 

“It is quite alright.”

 

And Curie’s French accent!

 

“So...we’re just going to go up to someone random again, and hope we’ve got it right this time?”

 

That was so Piper! What about…?

 

“What of Monsieur MacCready?”

 

His heart started pounding.

 

A frustrated sigh. “You saw that look. We’re better off leaving him alone right now. Let anything he finds get killed instead of us…”

 

Wait. What was MacCready doing? He wasn’t doing something stupid like Liam worried he might, was he? Frowning, he shut the radio off, taking off in that direction as guilt started to eat at him. He vaguely noticed the varying glances exchanged behind him before someone decided to follow. He didn’t care if they did; he was interested more in finding the source of the voices. And finding out what stupid thing his disappearance had caused his partner to do.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Atom Bomb Baby_ \- The Five Stars


	24. Please Don't Hit Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL the characters. ALL OF THEM.

Three voices. All women. And all different accents. Could that be--

 

The Irish voice said “Curie”. Wasn’t that one of Liam’s friends?

 

Scarlett watched him closely, judging his reaction--not that she hadn’t been sneaking glances since it was still something of a novelty to see his face finally. That was definitely recognition in his eyes, and it only increased with each spoken line.

 

And then he took off.

 

She barely took a moment to gauge what her friends thought, only seeing levels of confusion and realization among them.

 

Screw it. She followed.

 

“Shite. It’s gone.”

 

“Maybe we were wrong again. Could be that they heard us and thought, ‘Oh boy, a bunch of crazies. I better turn off my radio so they can’t find me and get the hell out of here!’”

 

“Oh, shut it, Pipe.”

 

“Heck, maybe that merchant had some friends he warned about us.”

 

“I said _shut it_.”

 

“It was not another hallucination, I hope...”

 

“It was not another damn hallucination! I think I would know if I was hearin’ things!”

 

“Sure don’t know when you’re seeing things…”

 

“What was that?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

The blonde disappeared behind some rocks where the voices seemed the loudest.

 

“...I’m seein’ things again, aren’t I.”

 

Guess he found them. She picked up the pace.

 

“...if you are, then I am too.”

 

“That is most assuredly not a hallucination.”

 

“Uh...hi, I’m back?”

 

She rounded the boulders herself--

 

“You!”

 

\--in time to see an angry red-headed woman practically shouting in Liam’s face.

 

“Where the _hell_ have ya been?! Ya damn well had us worried out of our minds! I oughta beat the crap outta ya for that!”

 

He had his hands up in front of himself, half-shielding mainly his face as if he feared for his life. ...or that she might punch him. Put in their place, she might be tempted to do the same…

 

“Good to see you, too, Cait?”

 

“You really have a knack for getting into trouble, don’t you Blue?”

 

He nodded at the woman in the short red trench coat. “Hey, Piper. Think you could, uh...call off the hound here?”

 

The redhead--Cait--almost seemed to growl at that, looking tempted to actually hit him, causing him to raise his hands higher as he leaned away, shifting his gaze to avoid making contact with angry green eyes.

 

“You are well, I hope, Monsieur? No new injuries to report?” The third woman--who Scar could only describe as “too cute to see battle”--asked in her (also cute) French accent.

 

“Perfectly fine, Curie. And I’m hoping to stay that way…” He dared to look directly at the angry redhead again. “Look, I don’t blame you for being mad…”

 

“Mad?! Ya think I’m _mad_?!” She threw her hands up, looking like she might strangle the air next. “Ya had us freaking out, thinkin' something mighta happened to ya! Ya could’ve been dead for all we knew, or _worse_! An' it’s not like I have many friends ta begin with…” She trailed off, eyes shining bright.

 

Liam sighed. “Sorry, Cait. It wasn’t on purpose…”

 

“I know that, damn it! Just... _argh_!” With that, she turned, stalking a few steps away. Scar thought she’d spotted a tear streaking just before she’d turned.

 

There was an awkward throat clearing.

 

Scar turned her head at the same time Liam and his friends did.

 

Twig, Larry, Bonnie, and even James were all staring at the scene in front of them.

 


	25. Trepidation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Typing accents is challenging. I apologize if I'm butchering them.

Well. He should have expected this. Did he really think no one would hear those voices but him? Or that they’d just ignore him walking off in their direction? Of course not. He just hadn’t been thinking.

 

And now they had an audience.

 

“Um…” An eloquent start. Charmer had apparently gone into hiding again.

 

“So…” Piper saved it from becoming an awkward silence. “New friends of yours, Blue?”

 

“Yea, you could say that.” He was hesitant to call them friends just yet. Most of them anyway. They were more like good acquaintances.

 

“Or maybe you were just trying to replace us...”

 

“Right. That’s exactly what I was doing,” he shot back, catching onto her joking tone. “You guys were getting boring, so I thought I’d find some replacments.”

 

Cait snorted. “Yea, like you’d ever be able to replace us.”

 

“Would you truly do that, Monsieur?” Curie asked in a worried tone, head tilted slightly.

 

Liam frowned, holding up a hand as he cleared up her confusion. “I wasn’t being serious, Curie.”

 

Sometimes her innocence was frustrating.

 

“Oh!” Her eyes lit up as she realized. “Zis is a form of humor, yes? Sarcasm?”

 

And sometimes it was adorable.

 

The redhead shook her head. “Ya still got a lot to learn, girl.”

 

“Zis is true. But what is life but a constant learning experience? There will always be more to see and learn.”

 

“...yea, I guess…”

 

Liam felt himself smiling at the exchange. Damn, he’d missed them all. “Right...I should probably introduce you all…”

 

\---

 

She couldn’t say they were what she pictured. Even with James’s vague descriptions from the time he’d spotted them. But one thing was clear: they were all good friends. More like some misfit family really. A lot like her own family of misfits in fact.

 

One by one, they were named, each saying hello in their own way. Until Liam got to the last of his friends. Namely the one _absent_ member of the group...

 

“By the way…” He turned to Piper with a furrowed brow. “Where _is_ MacCready? I heard you say something about leaving him alone…”

 

The three exchanged glances, before Piper turned back to him. “Yeaaaa...he hasn’t exactly been dealing with your disappearance too well…”

 

“He has been most distraught.”

 

“Tha’s one way to put it,” Cait mumbled.

 

“Basically, double Cait’s freakout but minus the obnoxious yelling.”

 

“Oi. Shut it, Pipe.”

 

“It's true though,” she shot back. “Heck, he wasn't even that bad until last night.” He frowned at her questioningly, silently asking her to elaborate. “We came across a--mostly--detonated minefield yesterday and I'm pretty sure you had a hand in that since one of the mines was disarmed…” She gave him a meaningful look at that.

 

“...yea, that might've been me…” He answered evasively, shifting a quick glance at Scarlett.

 

“I figured.”

 

“What the hell set off the rest of ‘em anyway? We know you don't normally pay ‘em no mind ‘cause ya can walk all over ‘em all willy nilly like.”

 

Scar had seen it first hand, so she wasn't surprised to hear that. She caught her friends exchanging glances. Apparently that little detail hadn't been shared with them during “story time” last night. Only James seem unphased. Again, she wasn't surprised.

 

Liam cleared that up with one word. “Raiders.”

 

Piper sighed. “Of course. Explains the bodies we found…”

 

“Not a damn thing useful left on ‘em either.” That was almost accusatory.

 

He just smirked.

 

Curie seemed to be looking at him more closely now. “You are certain you are alright, Monsieur?”

 

“Yea, Curie.” He nodded, smiling at her. “I'm fine. Don't worry.”

 

“Anyway...that's when MacCready started disappearing more. He was already doing that every now and then, for maybe an hour at most. Probably so we’d cover more ground in case you were nearby…”

 

He acknowledged the explanation. “Makes sense.”

 

“Yea, which is why it didn't concern us as much at first. Kept him occupied too. But last night, he disappeared without saying anything. For the _entire_ night.”

 

Liam’s brows rose.

 

“He came back this morning,” she quickly added on. “Kind of banged up like he’d been in a fight. But he seemed...out of it.”

 

“I've seen that look before…” Cait’s serious tone drew their attention. “I had that same look meself after facing me parents… Not knowing what ya should do anymore...” She looked straight at Liam. “He looked lost.”

 

Scar couldn't read the blonde’s face as he quietly asked, “What about his more recent disappearance?”

 

“See, that's the thing. He seemed oddly focused. In a ‘don't get in my way’ kind of way.”

 

“Looked more like he was about ta go on a murder spree ta me…”

 

“When was this?”

 

“Maybe an hour ago? Not even?” Piper looked at Cait for confirmation, getting a nod.

 

“...he was looking at something before he left.”

 

They all turned to Curie.

 

Noticing the attention on her, she continued. “I am not fully certain, but it may have been a mask. A...gas mask perhaps.”

 

Liam frowned. “I did have my gas mask on when those...raiders…” His eyes widened as he trailed off, shooting Scarlett a meaningful look that she returned.

 

“What? _What?”_ Piper asked twice when neither explained right away.

 

He turned back to them, eyes still a bit wide. “One of the raiders managed to get a shot on me--nothing serious,” he added on when Curie looked alarmed. “But it took out the one of the lenses of my gas mask.” He tapped his left brow. “Completely smashed the glass…”

 

A slow look of realization overcame their faces. It was Cait who voiced their thoughts first. “An’ if he found _that_ at the minefield…”

 

Liam nodded, looking serious. “I need to find him.”

 

“That might be difficult,” the reporter pointed out. “We don’t know where he is. Only the direction he went in. And who knows how far he got.”

 

The blonde turned to the “ranger”. “James, how good are you at tracking?”

 

“If there’s even a trace, I can follow it.”

 

Liam nodded, decisive. “Good. Let’s go.” And with that, he pulled out his combat rifle, checking its ammo, before turning to head the way the three women had come from, James taking the lead without question.

 

Scar made to follow them...but paused, turning back. “Wait. So let me get this straight... He and MacCready are a _couple_ , right?”

 

“Well, yea…” Piper trailed off as Scar shot Bonnie an “I told you so” look, to which she looked oddly guilty...before handing over some caps to Larry.

 

“Maaaannn…” Twig whined, reaching into his bag to pull out some caps as well. “I hate it when I lose.”

 

Scar blinked, taken aback. “What the hell? Did you guys place _bets_?!”

 

The ghoul just shrugged, having the gall to look _sheepish_ of all things. “Hey, gotta make a few caps somehow.”

 

She just shook her head. “Unbelievable.” And these were the people she called “family”.

 

The reporter watched the short exchange with bemusement. “Did I...miss something?”

 

A huff was the response she got. “Let's just say he was being a brat and had us playing ‘guessing game’ with no winners.”

 

Cait nodded thoughtfully. “Sounds like ‘im.”

 


	26. Ghost

The pace they were moving was driving him mad. While Liam understood the need to travel carefully lest James miss the tracks, they couldn’t move fast enough. He had to calm down. He’d need a level head. Who knew what they would find after all?

 

To find that destroyed gas mask in a detonated minefield, not far from three dead raiders... What must have gone through MacCready’s head had his blood running cold. Like Liam, the sniper had seen his own wife get killed right in front of him while he was helpless to do anything to save her. The world as he knew it had been destroyed and needed to be pieced back together. He had his own son to raise, too...but he’d commented that maybe it would have been better if they’d died there with her. The blonde disagreed with that of course. Neither of them had been looking to find someone after that. But it seemed fate had had other ideas. It just seemed...right. So Liam had taken a chance that day after they’d returned the deathclaw egg…

 

And some of the things MacCready would say…

 

“ _The day you told me that you loved me was the greatest day of my life…”_

 

“ _I don’t what kind of karma I cached, but I definitely don’t deserve someone as good as you…”_

 

“ _I hope this little thing we have going lasts forever. Don’t wanna go back to the way things were…”_

 

That last one. The way the sniper said it always made him melt...while simultaneously causing him to be concerned.

 

If he was doing what Liam thought he was…

 

His heart clenched at the thought.

 

A familiar skittering across the sand reached his ears.

 

Radscorpions.

 

He heard the screeching as they charged in, the rumble each time one burst out of the ground...

 

...and a voice he knew all too well yelling out as they got too close and needed to be smacked away with the bayoneted end of a sniper rifle…

 

But why hadn’t he heard any gunshots?

 

Heart thundering, Liam bolted forward past the “ranger”, having only one person on his mind right now.

 

_Please don’t do anything stupid!_

 

\---

 

There were too many of them!

 

He jumped back, barely missing getting hit by a spike-end tail, before needing to dodge again as a pincer exploded from the ground near his feet.

 

And he’d run out of ammo ages ago!

 

He swore, glad no one was there to hear him.

 

No one was there…

 

No one...

 

His thoughts drifted back to blackened gravel, littered with the shrapnel of detonated mines… Three dead raiders nearby…

 

A gas mask carelessly tossed to the side...

 

A gas mask with the left lens shot out…

 

A gas mask exactly like _he_ always carried…

 

A few strands of pale gold still clinging to the straps…

 

\--and leapt away again, the sharp stinger barely grazing his arm this time. He smacked it back with a yell, getting an angry screech in return.

 

MacCready couldn’t keep this up forever.

 

He wasn’t sure he wanted to either…

 

His eyes drifted to the glint of gold on his hand as he swung the butt end of his rifle into another scorpion’s hard shell. Was there even a point to this? Why was he still fighting to survive...?

 

The ground suddenly sprayed dirt up under his feet, sending him flying backwards. Stars exploded in his eyes as his head smacked hard into the ground, leaving him dazed.

 

He stared up at the sky, blinking dumbly.

 

Damn…

 

Was this it?

 

He didn’t intend to go down without a fight, but…

 

Was there even a point in fighting back anymore…?

 

His eyes squeezed shut as a tear slid free, waiting for the inevitable strike.

 

There was a small _crack_ \--

 

\--followed by the screech and thud of a radscorpion hitting the ground.

 

_Crack crack!_

 

_Squeal! Scree!_

 

The ground beneath him shook with determined skittering…

 

...that was moving _away_ from him.

 

_What…?_

 

More odd _cracks_ followed by more screeches. He could hear...running…

 

And yelling.

 

Someone was yelling.

 

It sounded--

 

But that couldn’t--

 

MacCready drew a shaky breath, struggling to lift his pounding head, barely managing to brace himself up on his shoulder. He squinted past the ache…

 

A scorpion burst up in a cloud of dirt from the ground…

 

_Crack!_

 

...before exploding in a cloud of carapace and oozing guts. Beyond, the one who shot it lowered his rifle as the debris cleared and he came into view.

 

He gasped sharply, eyes going wide.

 

Black leather coat over khaki and faded blue clothes, worn brown cowboy hat atop a pale blonde head, silenced combat rifle ready to take out the next target light blue eyes might spot...

 

Was he seeing a ghost?

 

_Liam..._

 


	27. There You Are

There had to be half a dozen radscorpions swarming the sniper. Maybe more, given all the fresh mounds of dirt indicating their burrow and ambush attempts.

 

He was holding them off admirably, dodging almost a dance with a pirouette of the sniper rifle’s bayonet smacking into arachnid shell. Liam might have been mesmerized if he wasn’t terrified out of his mind.

 

Especially when MacCready was thrown backwards in a spray of earth, the scorpion looming over him ready to strike with deadly barb.

 

_No!_

 

He took a shot.

 

His aim was true.

 

Yelling to get their attention, he ran forward, shooting any that came near. He was mowing down their numbers, getting closer. There was no way in hell he was going to let them kill--

 

A frenzy of claws burst from the ground in front of him. He shot on instinct, muscle memory taking over.

 

The bullet hit, fueled by the rush of adrenaline.

 

An explosion of guts and hard shell littered the ground.

 

Pale blue eyes scanned left and right, paranoia still riding high. Breathing heavy, Liam slowly lowered his rifle. The battle seemed to be over. For now at least. He released a shaky breath when he caught sight of a pair of darker blue eyes staring at him in disbelief.

 

Heart pounding, he practically ran to the sniper, dropping into a kneel beside him. He reached a hand forward, wanting to pull him into an embrace...but thought better of it and gently placed his palm against a rough cheek, wanting to cry at the battered look of his lover.

 

“MacCready…”

 

\---

 

Was this real? Had he finally cracked and given in to the desert’s hallucinations?

 

Or had he actually died when his head hit the ground…?

 

...if so, death was painful. Should his head be pounding as much as his heart was right now?

 

He must have said something out loud, because he received a half-smile from the “ghost” in front of him. “I’m pretty sure you’re alive…” the “ghost” said, almost sounding relieved to his ears.

 

“But...the minefield… All those mines--they went off. I saw the shrapnel. I found--your gas mask was there--just...” The palm was warm against his cheek. Liam couldn’t be dead. The dead didn’t have warm hands. “I thought you were…” His voice broke on the last word, unable to even say it as the tears finally streamed free.

 

The smile turned a little watery. “You know I’m made of tougher stuff than that. It’ll take more than a few mines to get rid of me.” The attempt at humor was paltry at best. Neither of them had it in them to really joke right now.

 

Unable to fight off the urge any longer, MacCready pushed himself up, ignoring the throbbing of his head as he pulled the blonde forward into a kiss.

 

It was a tearful mess, full of all the emotions they had over the past few days. Feeling lost, the hopelessness...the desperation…

 

Liam just held him close after they broke apart, letting him bury his face into his shoulder and breathe in his familiar scent.

 

He’d finally found him.

 


	28. Wounded Warrior

They stayed like that for a while, neither making a move to pull away.

 

He felt the sniper shaking a little as he clung to him for dear life. Liam held himself back from doing the same, keeping his grip secure, but light enough so as not to hurt him further. Gently, he ran his fingers through short brown hair, but paused when the other winced slightly...and pulled his hand away when he felt a bit of moisture that seemed different from sweat…

 

Blood.

 

Blood dotted his fingertips.

 

He stared at it, the image of MacCready smacking into the ground filling his head...

 

He brought his hand back, checking more carefully this time, noting the hiss of pain as he came in contact with a section that seemed more tender than the surrounding area. Frowning, he tried to recall what the signs of a concussion were. An impact like that was sure to cause at least a minor one...

 

It’d be hard to tell, given that Piper said they hadn’t seen him the entire night; so he could only assume he hadn’t _slept_ the whole night either. And he really didn’t want to force him to move more than he should. It was already bad enough that he’d sat up as fast as he had. But they couldn’t stay here, sitting out in the open like this. They’d have to return to the others sooner or later...

 

He reached for his pocket, grabbing a stimpak. Hopefully it’d be enough, and if not, it was better than nothing.

 

\---

 

He felt the small prick of a needle in the side of his neck, barely flinching at the tiny annoyance, and released a sigh as the feeling of being tired and overall ache faded to just...tired.

 

Right. He hadn’t gotten any sleep last night.

 

Or the other night for that matter.

 

...come to think of it, he hadn’t really gotten that much the night before that either.

 

Hell, his last alright night of sleep was before Liam went missing. He’d been too worried and wound up wanting to go out and search to even attempt to nod off.

 

Seems the lack of was catching up with him now. It was pretty comfortable here too…

 

“Hey…” He felt a hand brush through his hair again. “Are you falling asleep on me?”

 

It was odd to both hear the voice speaking and feel it from where his face was pressed into the side of Liam’s neck…

 

He barely managed a hum in response. Very articulate.

 

“Am I going to have to carry you back?” He could feel the warm tone as he spoke, continuing to run a hand through his hair.

 

That...wasn’t helping.

 

“The others are going to see, you know.”

 

Honestly, he didn’t give a damn. He just sighed out a breath.

 

Liam’s chest rumbled with a soft chuckle. A pair of lips brushed the side of his head as the hand going through his hair left. They sort of leaned a little to the side for a second and he heard a shifting of metal against gravel as his sniper rifle was picked up off the ground.

 

The last thing he was aware of was an arm scooping behind his knees as he was lifted from the ground.

 


	29. The Gang's All Here

He was completely out, breathing softly against the side of Liam’s neck.

 

He picked his way past the dead radscorpions, slowly making his way back as he carefully cradled the sleeping sniper in his arms. The brim of the military cap was pressing into his neck at an awkward angle, but he didn’t care. It wasn’t really bothering him. No way in hell he was going to move him either.

 

They would definitely get some looks, possibly comments, when they got back, and if anyone did anything stupid, he would glare at them. Hard. Possibly growl a little.

 

It was concerning how MacCready hadn’t even protested being carried or the thought of the others seeing. He started running the possible symptoms of a concussion through his head again in case the stimpak hadn’t been enough. Not that there was much else he could do if that was the case. But perhaps Curie could. For now, sleep seemed to be what he needed most.

 

He was surprised but not surprised to see Scarlett up ahead, very intentionally looking _away_ from the direction he’d come from. He paused near her, shooting an amused browraise her way before continuing on to where James seemed to be waiting to lead the way back.

 

\---

 

Ok, so she had been watching.

 

Not that she could see much. She’d arrived as the short battle ended, James never once having stepped in since it seemed he had no need to...and he claimed Liam wouldn’t have let him anyway.

 

She silently agreed with him as she watched the blonde run over to the fallen form at the other side of the radscorpion corpse field.

 

It was impossible to hear or see very much, but there was a short exchange of some sort, before they embraced and just stayed that way for awhile. It felt like she was witnessing an intimate moment only meant for the two of them. Feeling herself blush, she turned away, ignoring the glance the “ranger” sent her way.

 

She stayed that way even as she heard the crunch of gravel beneath feet approach behind her, sounding a little heavy. She wondered at that, but still refused to turn.

 

Suddenly, a blonde head leaned into her line of sight, sending her an amused and _knowing_ look before continuing onward.

 

Caught red-hand--

 

Oh. He was _carrying_ MacCready. That explained the heavy footsteps.

 

Did something happen?

 

She furrowed her brow, unable to hold back her curiosity as she hurried to catch up with him. Sneaking little glances his way, she soon realized that Liam wasn’t just carrying him. He was _asleep_ in Liam’s arms. She barely kept herself from blushing at that, thinking the image cute. It also made him appear much younger than she pictured. Had he said how old the sniper actually was…?

 

Liam glanced her way, catching her watching, and directed his gaze down at the burden in his arms, face softening as he did. “Yea, he got himself into some trouble. Managed to hit his head in the process. Mostly tired though,” he answered her unspoken question, keeping his voice soft so as not to disturb the other’s rest.

 

She only nodded. The rest of the trip back continued on in silence.

 

\---

 

“Oh!” Curie was the first to notice them returning, covering her mouth with her hands in alarm. “What happened?”

 

“Radscorpions,” James provided as he walked past.

 

Seeing the concern grow in Curie’s eyes, Liam quickly spoke up. “He wasn’t stung.” She looked marginally relieved at that, but the question remained in her eyes as she approached to check him over herself. “Took a pretty hard hit to the head, though, when one sent him backwards into the ground…”

 

She looked up. “Then you should not have moved him!” The tone was quiet, but the point was clear. He was surprised he didn’t get the hands-on-hips “stern mother” look from her to go with it.

 

“Um.” He blinked. “He moved himself first.”

 

“And possibly injured himself more in the process.” Now he _was_ getting the “stern mother” look.

 

“I. I don’t know, but…” He was feeling like a scolded child. “It’s not like we could’ve stayed there anyway. We were kind of surrounded by dead radscorpions…”

 

She huffed, still not pleased, but understanding the reasoning. “You were careful I hope.”

 

He nodded. “Of course.” He hadn’t shifted him once after he’d stood up. Hell, his arms were getting stiff, but he was ignoring it. “And I gave him a stimpak.” He hoped that wasn’t the wrong thing to do.

 

Luckily, she nodded in approval. “Yes. That should help. He will mostly need rest.”

 

Piper let out long drawn-out breath. “I swear, he’s more trouble than you sometimes, Blue.”

 

He sent her a wry smile.

 

Turning to the rest of those gathered, he caught the varying degrees of stares directed (and not directed) his way, shooting them a raised brow. “Hopefully you three have figured it out by now and I don’t need to spell it out.”

 

“Um, yea…” Twig sort of half-nodded, while Bonnie guiltily looked anywhere but at him. And Larry... Well, he just looked smug.

 

Liam kept his flat expression. “Settled your bet then?”

 

Wide eyes were directed at him from the vault dweller. “How the-- How did you know about that?!”

 

He broke the flatness with a knowing smirk. “I didn’t. You just confirmed it.” Twig stared, before looking at the others with the same shocked expression. Only Bonnie returned the look, while Larry kept watching the blonde with a sort of calculating look. Liam ignored it for now, continuing, “Oh, and,” He gestured with his head at the sleeping form in his arms. “Try to keep it a little quiet, alright?” Not that MacCready had stirred once. He really did need the sleep it seemed.

 


	30. Slumber

They set up camp early.

 

He was grateful for that. It wasn’t like he could keep traveling while the sniper still slept. He gave no sign of waking any time soon. This would have concerned Liam if he didn’t conclude that MacCready must not have been sleeping well recently. Hell, he could see the bags that had formed under his eyes, likely from the stress of Liam’s disappearance. He’d been stressed himself, eager to return as quickly as possible, but he’d managed to gain some notion of distraction along the way. From the sounds of it, it seemed MacCready hadn’t been as able. Guilt began to eat at him again.

 

He held the sniper close from where he sat off to the side away from the others. It had taken some careful maneuvering, but somehow he’d gotten his coat off without disturbing the sleeping form so he could drape it over the both of them as a blanket. He’d even removed both of their hats. Curie had given him a more thorough once over--mainly checking his pulse and where Liam had indicated the bump on the back of his head--confirming that yes, what he needed right now was sleep. The stimpak seemed to have done the job. She had then looked him straight in the eye, saying he could also use some rest, leaving him to blink at her as she moved to join the others by the campfire.

 

He stared after her, wondering how he must look if she came to that conclusion. He watched them for a moment, Twig going on about his “great heroics” as he charged in with shish kebab in hand, moving his arms about as if he was swinging that flaming sword again...until Scar pointed out how he’d made it melt by supercharging it with a Nuka Cola Quantum.

 

Liam snorted softly. Yea, he could imagine that. Pulling his attention away from the swapping of battle stories--oh, the stories he could tell--he turned his gaze down at the sniper, checking that he was still sleeping soundly. He smiled softly, running a hand gently through his hair, suddenly feeling a yawn trying to fight free. Maybe Curie was right; he should get some sleep too.

 

Taking one last peek at the group round the fire, he dropped a soft kiss onto MacCready’s forehead, before leaning his cheek atop his head and closing his eyes.

 

\---

 

Scar chanced a glance over, the firelight barely reaching enough for her to make them out.

 

Ok, now that was just too cute for words. She looked away, trying to keep the smile that wanted to form off of her face. Unfortunately, Cait caught what she was doing and glanced over herself, snorting softly at the scene. “If ya think that’s something, ya should see the two of them when they’re awake. Enough ta give ya cavities.”

 

She raised a brow, sending a look over at the portly vault dweller. “I can imagine actually…”

 

He seemed to be grinning cheesily off into space, not noticing the look he was receiving. Bonnie elbowed him, breaking him free of his daydream. “Ow! What was...” He rubbed at his side, looking at her betrayed.

 

“Someone on your mind there, Twig?” Scar threw the teasing question at him.

 

“A hot lady doctor maybe?” Larry suggested, grinning toothily. “ _‘Ooh baby, gimme some sugar…’_ ” He mimed sloppily making out, stopping only when he noticed the stares he was getting. “Too much?”

 

Scar sent him a flat look as she pinched her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “Just a bit.”

 

Everyone laughed at that--Twig pouted--carrying on their conversations.

 

Off to the side, neither sleeping form stirred, caught in better dreams than they’d had in days.

 


	31. Good Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting to wind down, but still a short ways to go.

Warm.

 

It was oddly warm. Not in an overheating from the sun sort of way. More like a comforting embrace sort of way. Even his pillow under him was warm.

 

It had some odd lumps to it, too. Somewhat familiar lumps actually...

 

...and it seemed to be moving slightly...in a...slow rise and fall sort of way…

 

Curiosity won over lazy drifting. Dark blue eyes slid open...to be met with a column of skin. A neck. Just below a blonde stubbled chin.

 

...oh. Well, that explained the comforting embrace thing. He was on Liam’s lap. Where he must have been the entire night.

 

…

 

Come to think of it, this was the exact position he’d been in after the radscorpions...when Liam had saved him from the radscorpions he’d been fighting off after he’d run out of ammo…

 

That’s right. He’d been out there after losing hope of...of ever seeing Liam again...thinking him dead after...after finding his destroyed gas mask at that minefield…

 

MacCready tried not to tear up again. There was no reason for that now. Liam was alive. Hell, _he_ was alive. Only because Liam had somehow found him out there foolishly not caring about his own life and kept him from losing it. Then he’d carried him off from that battlefield. That was the last thing he remembered…

 

He must have been asleep for a long time.

 

Glancing up, the sniper angled his head a bit, getting a better view of his partner’s face as he listened to his soft breathing. He almost smirked. Somehow, even after being as exhausted as he’d been, he still managed to wake up before Liam like he usually did. How much before varied, but it was always at least a few minutes. Those minutes may have been used to watch the blonde each morning, wondering how he could have ended up with someone like him after all that had happened. He was trying to be a better person, but he definitely didn’t consider himself good… Nowhere near as good as Liam was…

 

“Stop that.”

 

He froze, eyes widening, finally noticing half-open pale eyes watching him. How long had he…? “Stop what?”

 

“Putting yourself down.”

 

He blinked, a frown slowly marring his face.

 

“Your mouth…” The blonde started to answer the question he must have read in MacCready’s eyes. “It does this thing where it sort of...tightens downward.” He waved a finger at his own mouth as he explained. “That only happens when you’re talking crap about yourself. Or thinking it in this case.”

 

“...oh.” he really didn’t know what to say to that.

 

“Alright, ya lovebirds! We been waiting all morning for ya to wake yer sorry asses up. Ya getting up or not?” Typical Cait.

 

The sniper frowned, opening his mouth to throw a sarcastic “good morning to you too!” at her...but paused at seeing the...less-than-skinny vault dweller going through his gear near the now-dead fire, checking if his gun had enough ammo. His eyes slid over to where Curie was talking to another girl he didn’t know about the different uses for plants in medicines for whatever reason. Who was…? She smiled, nodding at him happily after she noticed his gaze, prompting the unknown girl to glance over curiously as well.

 

Liam called back at the redhead, “You sound like you were ready to grab the cold water bucket or something.”

 

“Don’t think I wasn’t tempted,” she threw back without any real malice behind the words, turning away to go back to getting her travel pack ready.

 

He snorted out a short laugh, reaching over to grab both of their hats. “We should probably get up before she really decides to. That is, if you’re feeling alright...” The blonde looked at him in question, then, seeing him not paying attention, followed his gaze as it went around the camp at all the people present. Realization hit his face. “Ah. Yea, I kind of made some new friends while I was lost…”

 

“I see that.” Did he make friends everywhere he went? MacCready shouldn’t be surprised anymore at this point…

 

Liam smirked, placing his hat back on his head, before doing the same for the sniper...and pulling it over his eyes in the process.

 

He pouted, straightening it with mild annoyance that was only meant to mask the happy twinge he felt from the familiar action.

 

That earned him an amused chuckle, something else he had missed. “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”

 


	32. Please Don't Hit Him Either

“You tried to pick his pockets?!”

 

Scar looked sheepish, shrugging at the reporter’s outburst. She had wanted to check if James was back from surveying the area for any dangers along their route, and Piper decided to tag along, wanting to see for herself as well. Something about liking to know things. “Well, I thought he was a corpse, so...free loot for the taking?” Somehow, on the way back, after not finding the “ranger” as easily as they’d hoped, they’d ended up talking about how she and Liam had run into each other and ultimately helped each other out.

 

“Man, that’s rich! Blue must’ve been pissed. I mean, he’s the sneakiest guy I know. I’ve seen him plant live grenades on raiders without them noticing. Definitely notice when they go off though…”

 

Her brows rose at that. She was kind of curious to watch that happen now…

 

“Yea...he definitely wasn’t in a good mood…” She remembered the rifle that had been pointed in her face.

 

They rounded the rocks to camp--

 

“The hell were ya even thinkin’?!”

 

\--and had an odd sense of deja vu.

 

“Hell, _were_ ya even thinkin’?! Ya could’ve been hurt! Ya could’ve been _killed_! And then what would we have told yer partner here?!”

 

There was Cait, verbally laying into MacCready, who had his shoulders hunched up, braced as he leaned away as if afraid she would hit him.

 

Liam was behind him, mouth pressed into a tight line, twitching a bit as held in laughter. Scar could see the humor too. After all, he had gone through a very similar situation just yesterday. “Um. Cait? I think you’ve made your point.” He was trying very admirably not to laugh. “I’m sure he’s very sorry. He’s been through a lot after all.”

 

MacCready kept eyeing her warily.

 

“Ahhh, damn it all.” All the anger seemed to steam out of her. “I can’t stay mad at ya. C’mere already.” With that, she pulled him into a tight hug.

 

The sniper blinked, dumbfounded, before awkwardly patting her on the back.

 

A snicker slipped free.

 

MacCready shot him a flat look, still trapped in the redhead’s embrace.

 

She finally released him, looking a little like her old self. “Just don’t pull that kinda crap again or I’ll kill ya meself, ya hear?”

 

He held up a hand, as if swearing an oath. “Noted.”

 

Scar's eyes didn’t fail to catch the glint of gold on his ring finger.

 

The blonde snorted out more laughter, this time getting a glare thrown his way that he grinned at. MacCready just rolled his eyes, pausing when he finally noticed they were being watched.

 

Following his gaze, Liam spotted the two as well. “Ah, there you are.”

 

“And the Wounded Warriors rise,” Piper “greeted” them with a smirk, stopping at her own words. “Come to think of it, that would make a good headline… Hm...” She drifted off into her own thoughts for a moment.

 

Scar raised a brow, wondering if this was normal, but considering neither Liam nor MacCready reacted, she assumed it was. Must be a reporter thing. They watched her walk off, pulling out a notepad to jot something down.

 

Ok then.

 

“Now, I’m not sure where James is…” She shrugged to say she wasn’t sure either when pale eyes glanced at her in question. “But...MacCready,” he gestured at her. “Scarlet. I’d probably still be wandering the Mojave if not for her.”

 

“And I’d probably be deathclaw shit,” she tossed back. Liam just snorted at this.

 

“Sounds about right, considering my partner’s lousy sense of direction…” The sniper seemed to be weighing her worth as he eyed her. But broke out in a half-smile. “Thanks for helping him out.” He extended a hand to shake, which she accepted.

 

He looked sincerely grateful. An expression she felt wasn’t on his face that often. Hell, she swore he had a face that could switch from smug to solemn and back again. Probably in less than a minute. It felt like that was the range he mostly showed the world. But she was seeing a hint of neither now. Just a sense that there was deeper meaning behind the words than what he said.

 

“Hey, compared to how he helped me, it’s no big deal.”

 

“It’s bigger than you think,” he nearly cut her off, turning a bit serious.

 

_Definitely_ more meaning behind his words. Liam was watching him now, but she couldn’t read anything from his face. _Note to self: ask him later when no one else can hear._

 

“Oh, by the way,” the blonde broke the heavy atmosphere that had started to set in, pulling a sniper rifle out of she-still-didn’t-know-where. “You’ll want this back for when we start traveling.”

 

“I wondered where that went!” His eyes lit up as he happily accepted the rifle back into his possession, checking it over for signs of wear. The barrel, the chamber, the...was that a scope?? It looked like someone squished a computer terminal into a rectangular tube and painted it white! And eyeing the chips she could just make out from here on the bayonet attached at the tip. Suddenly, the light in his eyes faded as he said, “Won’t do me much good right now, though. I ran out of ammo…”

 

Liam smirked, “That shouldn’t be a problem,” and pulled out the boxes of .50 caliber rounds she had forgotten about him buying from that merchant they ran into. Since he’d never once used them, it had completely slipped her mind. It hadn’t hit her that they could be for someone else. So that meant he’d been thinking of MacCready at the time.

 

_Hold in the “aww”, Scar. Don’t make a fool of yourself..._

 

“Damn,” his voice shook with amused surprise. “How many merchants did you clean out?”

 

A shrug. “Just the odd one on the road.”

 

The sniper chuckled. “And let me guess. You didn’t spend a single cap, did you?”

 

Another shrug, this time accompanied by a smug raise of the brows. “You know me. Why spend when you can trade?”

 

“Why am I not surprised. Guess we should be glad you use your “powers” for good instead of evil, huh? ...though you gotta admit, that could be fun.”

 

“What? My goody-two-shoes act not fun enough for you?”

 

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to be bad sometimes.”

 

“But that’s what I have you for.”

 

“Oh, I see. So I’m just the little shoulder devil, huh?”

 

“Hmm…” Liam scrutinized him for a second, nodding. “Yea, I could see you with horns.”

 

The way they interacted, words holding an underlying tone of warmth even as they picked at each other...

 

_You will not “awww”!_

 

“ _If ya think that’s something, you should the two of them when they’re awake. Enough to give ya cavities.”_

 

Oh how right Cait had been.

 

“Oh, before I forget…” Liam turned to her suddenly. “I never did thank you for not just...leaving me alone there lost in the desert.” A slight pause. “Really. Thank you.” The earnest way he said that, looking her right in the eye, confirmed it. There was something bigger to this that they weren’t saying. But it seemed like Liam was trying to convey this. Even MacCready had turned to observe the two of them carefully.

 

Her mind wandered to the fact that both of them wore matching wedding rings despite the fact the blonde had said he _was_ married. As in _not currently_...

 

She would definitely talk to him later.

 


	33. The Truth Comes Out

Later didn’t happen that soon.

 

Once they started traveling again, both groups deciding they’d stick together for now, it became difficult to talk privately. Sure, they drifted apart into smaller groups, but...

 

“ _Don’t mess with Mister In-between~”_

 

“Man, I could never manage to get that good of a signal on mine.” Seemed Twig had decided to “pester” Liam again, talking about his old pip-boy after the blonde had tuned into Diamond City Radio. She’d kind of missed that actually. “Usually I’d have climb pretty high up for it to be clear. Otherwise, there’s a lot of static. But you don’t seem to be getting any.”

 

Liam brought the computer up to look at closer. “Yea, I wondered about that too… I did install a few things at the station that boosted the signal a few months back. It was only meant to broadcast just outside of the Commonwealth though.”  


 

“Why would you need to boost it that far?”

 

_“You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum..._  
_Bring gloom down to the minimum…”_

 

He turned towards Bonnie since she’d apparently been listening in on the conversation. He frowned. “Well...I didn’t really _want_ to…” He seemed hesitant to say. “It was more like I had to.” She radiated curiosity at that. “Someone...needed it to be done...and due to certain circumstances, I couldn’t exactly refuse...”

 

“ _Have faith, or pandemonium's…”_

 

“The Institute?” James asked from his point in the lead, though it sounded more like he was confirming rather than asking out of not knowing.

 

“ _Liable to walk upon the scene~”_

 

He had silently reappeared just before they had set off, giving the all-clear for their planned route. “Huh, you weren’t kidding,” was all MacCready had said about him. They’d had to describe their last companion since they weren’t sure when he’d turn up. He’d then raised an amused brow at his partner, which got a flat stare in return. There was a story there, she was sure.

 

“...yea.” Liam was watching the “ranger” carefully, silently asking how he knew that.

  
  
“...I heard the message they broadcast,” was the reluctant explanation.

 

“Ah.” From that one word alone, it was obvious he wasn't happy about the answer.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” MacCready jumped in, sounding mildly irritated. “It’s in the past, and they’re gone. Buried who knows how far underground.”

 

_“What did they do~_  
_Just when everything looked so dark?”_

 

“Yea…” Liam shot him a quick glance, one Scar thought looked grateful for the interruption. She didn’t blame him. He really didn’t sound like he wanted to talk about this. It probably had something to do with how he was involved in destroying the shadowy group. “It’s not really important why anymore. But that’s why I’m getting such a clear signal. Only reason I can think of anyway.”

 

_“Accentuate the positive..._  
_Eliminate the negative..._  
_Latch onto the affirmative..._  
_Don’t mess with Mister In-between…_

 

_“No, don’t mess with Mister In-between!”_

 

\---

 

“ _Into each life some rain must fall…”_

 

He could kiss MacCready right now for that. The sniper always did hate bringing up dead subjects that in his eyes no longer mattered. But this didn’t feel like one of those moments. Hell, even if it was just him getting annoyed, Liam would’ve latched onto the excuse to change subjects anyway.

 

“ _But too much is falling in mine…”_

 

Not many knew of his relation to the scientific group that no longer was. That the group that had been responsible for his son’s kidnapping and his wife’s murder...was taken over by his very son after they had raised him. Only those closest to him knew this.

 

“ _Into each heart some tears must fall…”_

 

Most of the Railroad had been left in the dark there. He didn’t dare tell them. It would have made working undercover for them that much harder, them knowing they were sending him in to betray his own flesh and blood…

 

“ _But someday the sun will shine…”_

 

Even if blood was the only way Liam considered them related at that point. Shaun had been sixty years old. Lived his full life without him in it. They’d only met because his son had found out about him and released him from the cryo pod to see what he would do.

 

“ _Some folks can lose the blues in their hearts…”_

 

A test, he’d called it. To see if the world he’d condemned would corrupt him as it had “corrupted” everything else. He hadn’t even given the Commonwealth a chance. Just looked down his nose at it...despite all the good Liam had found amongst the rubble...

 

All the hope.

 

Potential.

 

The life...

 

“ _But when I think of you, another shower starts…”_

 

“Hey, come back down to Earth, spaceman.”

 

Liam blinked, finally noticing he and MacCready had fallen into the back of the group, the sniper trying to get his attention for who knows how long. “Oh. Sorry, got lost in thought.”

 

“ _Into each life some rain must fall…”_

 

“I could see that.” The concern in his eyes was masked by humor, but that didn’t cover it up all the way. “Try not to get too lost in them. We both know how bad you are at navigating.”

 

“ _But too much is falling in mine…”_

 

He snorted a half-snicker at that, the humor not quite reaching his eyes. “Yea, about that…” He glanced ahead of them to check if anyone was listening. Scarlett was the closest, but no one else would be near enough to hear anything. He could live with that.

 

“...what is it?” There was no attempted humor now. Just plain concern. “This about what started all this?”

 

“That’s...not actually what I was thinking about. But yea. You should know why this all happened.” He wasn’t too sure how to start this. It was actually pretty silly really...

 

“You weren’t there when that dust storm came in,” he was prompted after he'd fallen silent again. “And when it finally cleared, there were no tracks. No trace of you at all.” The way MacCready said that. The question hidden in the words. _Why weren’t you there?_

 

“I...tried to wake you up.” He was going to be pissed. “I thought I had. I mean, you seemed to hear what I said before I stepped away.”

 

He blinked at Liam. “I don’t remember that.”

 

Sigh. “I was afraid of that.” He hesitated for a second, debating on if this was a good idea. _Oh, hell with it. You’ve started already._ “I...actually stepped away...because I had to take a piss.” He waited, avoiding looking at the sniper for fear of his reaction.

 

...

 

“Are you fu--” The swear was barely cut off in his disbelief. “Are you serious?!”

 

The blonde cringed, peeking ahead again. No one had turned around. Yet. “Yea?”

 

“...”

 

Liam chanced a look at his partner, the silence worrying him. What he saw was a face caught between disbelief, anger, and...he wasn’t sure what else.

 

Not sure what that meant but fearing he was about to get yelled at, quickly he added, “And then some radscorpions decided to say hello, and you know how it is dealing with them. You can’t stay in one spot since they keep popping out of the ground.”

 

That seemed to do something. Sort of.

 

Liam watched as MacCready slowly brought a hand up to his face as he bent his head forward, shoulders starting to shake. “Oh. My. God… All this...because...you had to...take a piss...” Anything he would’ve said after that was lost as he fell into laughter.

 

_“Some folks can lose the blues in their hearts…_  
_But when I think of you another shower starts…”_

 

That was a better reaction than he expected. And when he put it like that…

 

Liam stared at the sniper, slowly feeling the ridiculous humor of it all sink in. He started to snicker along with him, bringing a fist up to cover his grin.

 

_“Into each life some rain must fall…_  
_But too much is falling in mine~”_

 

“You do realize you’re not leaving my sight again.”

  
“I figured.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _Accentuate the Positive_ \- Bing Crosby, _Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall_ \- Ella Fitzgerald and The Inkspots


	34. "Thank You" is an Understatement

…

 

That was the reason?

 

The reason Liam had gotten separated from his friends, what started it _before_ the dust storm hit…

 

...was that he had to take a piss??

 

_Are you fucking serious?_

 

Scarlett nearly turned around to shout those words at the now-laughing blonde, who had apparently found his partner’s laughter contagious. It...was somewhat humorous actually. She might start laughing herself…

 

No way. They would know she’d heard everything then. Not that it was on purpose. She was just keeping near enough so they didn’t fall too far behind. It had been out of concern for how quiet Liam had fallen after the word “Institute” was said.

 

Well...not so much the word. More the _way_ it had been said.

 

Apparently his involvement in taking them down was more complicated than anyone knew. Except MacCready. He seemed to know enough to realize it was a subject to avoid and gone into defensive mode for his partner’s sake. But that was understandable, given the two’s closeness.

 

She still wondered about the rings. Would there be a chance to ask about them? Or find out what the blonde had been hinting at when she’d been thanked for helping him out? There was something there that neither of them had said, but had spoken volumes about. Helping Liam had done more than helped him. That was sort of a “no duh”, what with how his friends had been searching for him. So that had obviously helped them out too. But if that were the case, she was sure he would’ve said that, instead of hinting at something more.

 

They were so close to their destination, she wasn’t sure there would be a chance now. The random abandoned houses that littered the area were becoming more and more common. It would be tempting to pop into one or two--or five or six--of them to see if there was anything notable left to loot…

 

But later. Not now. Someone could be living in one of them too. But that was the chance you had to take.

 

“Damn, you’re as bad as he is.”

 

Scar reached for her rifle--

 

\--only to stop her hand and lower it back after spying MacCready beside her.

 

His dark blue eyes were wide in surprise (and maybe a hint of nervousness). “On second thought, you’re worse. He didn’t try to shoot me.”

 

She shrugged, fighting off the twinge of guilt. “Reflex.” It wasn’t an apology so much as an explanation.

 

“Right…” he eyed her warily for a moment. “Anyway--” He threw a thumb over his shoulder. “I believe this one here wanted to talk to you. And since this little road trip’s about to end...well, I figure he might miss his chance if I don’t kick his as--I mean...actually get him to say something.” Had he cut off a swear again? She wondered about that… “I’ll just be up ahead, ignoring Piper’s questions and trying to keep Curie from fussing over me again.” He threw a wave that was half salute, speeding up his pace to give them some distance.

 

He had seemed unsure. Or that’s what she observed. She hadn’t really talked to him that much since they’d met, so it wasn’t like she had a clear idea of what MacCready was like. Perhaps whatever it was Liam wanted to talk to her about would clear things up.

 

At least this meant she’d get the chance to ask him about a few things. And maybe hear what he’d been trying to hint at when he’d thanked her before. She could only assume that’s what this was about…

 

\---

 

Damn it, MacCready. That wasn’t how he’d wanted to do this. This was why he usually did all the talking.

 

_I just_ had _to say something, didn’t I._

 

But this meant his partner was ok with him telling Scar what had happened. Though he had started it by saying her helping out Liam was a bigger deal than she’d made it out to be. That had surprised him. The sniper was usually slow to give information like that away.

 

But now he needed to get this over with. He felt like she deserved to know just how much her helping him out meant.

 

Mind made up, he increased his pace until he was walking beside her. Of course, that didn’t mean he knew how to _start_...

 

“So...yea.” Eloquent, Liam. Mentally kicking himself when she raised a brow at him, he forced himself to _actually_ start. “You’re probably wondering what I wanted to talk to you about.” Better, but still not great.

 

She nodded, “Yea…?” prompting him to say something already.

 

“It’s about...when MacCready thanked you. When _I_ thanked you.” Seriously, where had Charmer gone? He needed to leave bait to bring him back. “There’s more to what you did than you think.”

 

\---

 

She _knew_ it. She had interpreted the extra meaning correctly. Sparing a glance forward to make sure they were far enough away to not be overheard while still close enough to follow or hear shouts, she turned her full attention back on Liam, nodding again in hopes of getting him to keep going.

 

He took the cue. “Basically...helping me...saved his life.”

 

Ok, that wasn’t what she expected. Unless he meant… “From the radscorpions, right? You got there in time to keep them from killing him.” But he shook his head, making her frown.

 

“Not exactly.” He was silent for a moment, presumably gathering his thoughts. She waited. “He thought I was dead. Or lost to him at least; I don’t know. But…” His voice grew quieter. “He was ready to give up. He would’ve let those radscorpions kill him…” He caught her eye. “He was ready to die.”

 

She stared. Why would the sniper think…?

 

The damaged gas mask. Of course. He had found that at the detonated minefield, discarded to the side, no sign of a body except for those three raiders. When Liam’s friends had found that field, they might not have had the tracking skills to read what had happened after. To see they had walked away from that. And the three women hadn’t found the mask; hadn’t even known about it until later.

 

MacCready had. And he knew who it belonged to.

 

Her eyes widened.

 

He easily could have assumed the worst. She was almost afraid to ask...

 

“Why would he just give up like that?” she nearly whispered the question.

 

Liam was quiet for a moment. “I’m going to have to tell you something about him that I’m not sure I should. It’s not a secret,” he added on when her mouth tightened into an unsure line. “It’s just something he doesn’t tell too many people.” He took a steadying breath. “He and I...have a few things in common.” He paused again. When he next spoke, he turned to look at her. “Remember what I said happened in the vault? How I saw my wife mu--get killed in front of me?”

 

She nodded silently, noting how he hesitated, squeezing his eyes on that word.

 

“He was married once too. A wife, Lucy, and they had a son, Duncan.”

 

Her brows rose. That hadn’t been expected. But wait. Liam had started with talking about losing his wife--...

 

Oh.

 

Did that mean...?

 

Her heart suddenly cried out for the sniper, wanting to give her condolences.

 

Though, as he was currently in conversation with Cait--or were they arguing while Piper refereed?--the timing would be awkward. And she shouldn’t make assumptions.

 

_But let’s face. That’s gotta be where he’s going._

 

Seems crap like losing family and friends happened to everyone in the wasteland.

 

\---

 

It felt weird to tell someone else’s story for them. But he had permission to say what was needed to explain the importance of his rescue. Because she deserved to know; he hated leaving his friends in the dark. He’d try to keep it vague at least, saying only as much was needed.

 

He could see in Scar’s eyes that she was piecing it together. He needed to clarify in case she was coming to the wrong conclusions, but at least this would be a little easier to say now. “They took shelter in an old Metro station one night...not realizing it was full of ferals. It was too late for him to do anything before they were on her. He barely got himself and Duncan out of there alive…”

 

“ _Maybe it would’ve been better if we’d died there with her…”_

 

He frowned. Those words had bothered him at the time. Still bothered him now. Why would he have thought that? The sniper had never told him, so all Liam could do was assume at this point. That maybe he just couldn’t bear the thought of going on without her, and had barely found a reason to for awhile. Which brought him to the conclusion he’d come to...

 

“I think...going through that again drove him over the edge…”

 

“Damn…” Scar breathed.

 

“Yea...”

 

“Wait.” She frowned. “He still has a son, right?”

 

“Yea.” He had a feeling he knew where this was headed. “He’s back in the Capital Wasteland. The Brotherhood took over down there, so MacCready had to travel all the way to Boston just to find work. And he couldn’t exactly take his son with him. Too young.” Not to mention he’d been deathly ill at the time and the only speculated cure had also been up north. But he left that part out. Enough secrets not his own had been given away already. “He left him in the care of people he trusts. They’ve been looking after him ever since.” And from the letters the father and son exchanged via caravans, he seemed to be doing ok. A little weak still after his illness, but slowly getting better.

 

“So...why would he just...want to end it like that?” There was the question he saw coming. He gave a humorless smirk.

 

“Don’t tell him I said this, but…” The blonde glanced ahead to make sure no one was listening. “I get the feeling he believes his son would be better off without him.”

 

Her brows furrowed. “Why would he think that?”

 

Liam sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Honestly, he’s a horrible self-critic.” Him and everyone else he knew. Step right up to the Wasteland Therapist. 5 caps a session. He really should start charging at the rate he went...

 

He received a wry smile in return. “I think I can relate. Held myself responsible for the deaths at the hand of a deranged Legionnaire, remember?”

 

He snorted. Oh yea, that. She definitely fit in as one of his friends.

 

“But yea. Now you know why helping me was a bigger deal than you realized.”

 

Now she snorted. “Yea, I guess I can see that now. You’re _both_ welcome in that case.”

 

He just smiled.

 

They walked in silence for a bit, though not really an uncomfortable one.

 

“So...any plans to make those rings official?”

 

He stumbled.

 

Scar just laughed.

 


	35. Wrapping Things Up

“I’m just sayin’, I’ve been on that same path of self-destruction meself. It’s what led me to relyin’ on chems. I don’t want to see anythin’ like that happenin’ to anyone else, let alone those I care about…”

 

Cait kept going on about how worried they had been with the way he’d been acting while Liam was missing. It was starting to get old--and made him feel guiltier about going off on his own so much--but he let her continue. It was better than being yelled at again while fearing the wrath of the baseball bat she had tucked away. Great breakfast that had been.

 

It was also the least he could do since he really was sorry and there was no way he could actually make up for it. So he let her talk. He wasn't even sure how they’d gotten on this subject again. Piper had been poking at her about how the buildings around them weren’t bars, then he’d just sort of joined in after walking up to them.

 

“Yer worth more than that, even if ya don't believe it.”

 

“And even if you don't,” Piper jumped in. “Someone we know is pretty good at helping people see that.”

 

“He is good at giving others purpose, yes?”

 

_Yea, he is..._ MacCready mentally agreed with Curie.

 

Liam just seemed to have this way of building people back up from the rubble they had become, finding whatever was needed to cement them back together. He had shown Cait that chems weren’t the way to deal and cured her of her addiction; advised Piper that the best thing for her sister was to love her rather than avoid her so she wouldn’t become like her; gotten Curie out of that sealed off section of Vault 81, not only giving her access to the world to further her medicinal research, but also obtaining the cure needed for an illness-stricken child in that vault. Much like he had helped MacCready find a cure for his own son.

 

Not to mention what he had done for his other companions and countless others across the Commonwealth...

 

Now he just felt like an idiot.

 

But he couldn't help how he’d acted. It had been hard enough going on after Lucy. To think he had lost Liam as well? MacCready stopped his thoughts as his heart constricted.

 

Suddenly, they heard Scarlett laugh.

 

She wasn’t laughing about him, was she?

 

Frowning over his shoulder, the sniper barely caught sight of his partner catching his balance (had he tripped?), staring at her with a scandalized expression as he turned bright red.

 

He blinked at them. That...couldn't be a reaction to the explanation Liam said he wanted to give her. So what happened?

 

The blonde finally noticed he was being watched, shooting a little wave as he attempted to regain his composure. MacCready wouldn’t admit this to anyone, but he found him adorable right now.

 

Scar followed his gaze, realizing they had his attention now, too. He thought he heard her say “we should probably go join them,” seeing Liam nod her way before they picked up the pace.

 

Instead of slowing when the two reached them, Scar continued to speedwalk, explaining, “I’m going to go make sure Larry isn’t trying to convince James that we should go into Vegas with you guys. The last thing we need is for him to try peddling his goods or putting the locals in debt from loans. We’d probably be banned in two seconds...”

 

MacCready watched as she ran ahead, picking the moment she was far enough away to start “interrogating” his partner. He turned to look at him. “So...back there…” he prompted.

 

He waited until he had Liam’s attention.

 

“What was that about?”

 

“Nothing big,” the blonde answered dismissively.

 

He shot Liam a disbelieving look. The casual way he’d said that should have been reassuring, but MacCready knew how “Charmer” worked. There could be more behind it. But unless he wanted to tell, it was almost impossible to find out. He’d seen him straight-up lie to someone’s face and they’d bought it completely. Hell, even the sniper would have believed it had he not known the truth at the time. It wasn’t until later that Liam had admitted how much he hated lying to the guy and that he “never wanted to do that again” even if it did get some trouble off their backs. This felt something like that, but not in a “danger” sort of way. He couldn’t quite place it...

 

“Ah, come on, Blue. It couldn’t have been nothing,” Piper tried wheedling out of him.

 

He just shrugged. The stubborn was strong with this one. “Really, it was nothing important.” At her scrutinizing eye, he relented. “If you need to know, I’ll tell you.”

 

That seemed to convince her. “Fine, Blue, if you say so.” But she certainly didn’t sound happy about it.

 

She turned away finally, and had MacCready not been paying close attention, he would have missed the subtle relaxing of Liam’s shoulders and the soft outtake of breath. As if he had been tensed up.

 

He furrowed his brow, but said nothing of it. Hopefully he’d find out sooner or later if it was important. He hated to think his partner was keeping something from him.

 


	36. The Journey's End

That had been close.

 

_“Watch out! Watch out..._  
_There’s a two-legged animal running about…”_

 

Whether Scar had been poking fun at him or not, asking him if he planned to “make the rings official”, as in _propose_ to the sniper, actually was something that had crossed his mind before. More than a few times in fact.

 

_“If it smokes a great big cigar…_  
_And it hangs around in a bar…_  
_If it tells the biggest lies,_  
_Wears the loudest ties…_

_“It’s a man!”_

 

Hell, MacCready often said how he hoped what they had going on never ended, and Liam had discovered not too long ago that the chapel in Diamond City did perform marriage services…

 

_“If it acts just like a crossed patch,_  
_Has a face with whiskers that scratch,_  
_If it’s stubborn as can be, mean and ornery…_

_“It’s a man!”_

 

He hadn’t been able to gauge his partner’s reaction to the ending of the small ceremony they witnessed due to their arriving in power armor at the time, but he had watched fondly as the two teachers from the schoolhouse professed their devotion to one another. Out of all the things he had done to impact the world, convincing that Mrs. Handy that love was something you should pursue before it was too late was among those things he was most happy about. He must have had the cheesiest smile on his face then. Perhaps the power armor was a good thing in that regard. Either way, the sniper hadn’t commented, so he had no idea what he thought at the time.

 

_“But if it makes the moon up on high..._  
_More than just a light in the sky..._  
_If it kisses you and you find you like it too,_  
_GRAB IT! It’s a man!”_

 

Both of them had been married before, sure, and both had lost their wives in similar situations--being unable to do anything to stop the tragedies before them. And marrying now didn’t exactly seem _necessary_ as their relationship already felt cemented in stone if you will. This trip had already proven it. There was no way in hell he would give the sniper up. But something about making it _official_ was just... Liam liked the sound of it. But he was also terrified. Come to think of it...deja vu; he’d had very similar thoughts just before proposing to Nora. _Huh..._

 

Something to think about on the way home perhaps, as the clustering of abandoned houses around them seemed to increase and a great wall made of rubble came more clearly into view.

 

Freeside. Just on the other side of that derelict town was their destination and the main reason they were all the way out here like almost-literal fish out of water.

 

New Vegas.

 

\---

 

Here they were.

 

The journey’s end.

 

It was...bittersweet really. Scarlett had wanted to help Liam reach his destination, possibly find his friends there or on the way, and hopefully come across hers as well.

 

All three things were now accomplished.

 

So why did she feel sad?

 

_Because after this, you’ll all be on your way, they’ll eventually go back to Boston all the way out to the east, and you’ll probably never see them again. Gee, I wonder_ why _you’re sad._

 

She snorted at herself. Bonnie shot her a curious look, but she just waved it off to keep the girl from worrying. They still needed to find her old town after all. The journey they had begun after their battle with Leon had concluded. There was no time for anyone to worry about her silly problems. Because they weren’t problems.

 

James slowed to a stop from where he walked up front, the others following suit as they got closer.

 

_“...habits are a little bit peculiar..._  
_If it brags and tries to make you think it’s wonderful..._  
_Be on the lookout!_  
_Don’t let it fool ya!”_

 

And here came Liam walking with MacCready at the back of the group. They looked right together; she had to admit.

 

_“But if it’s kneelin’ down on one knee,_  
_Sayin’ darling please marry me,_  
_Then don't hesitate, better name the date and then,_  
_GRAB IT!_  
_HOLD IT!_  
_HANG ONTO IT! For it’s a man~~”_

 

...an oddly fitting song, especially with how she had just teased him. And the way he’d reacted was priceless. She frowned, wondering...

 

“Are you sure we can’t go in for--”

 

“ _NO.”_ Scarlett, Bonnie, and even Twig almost shouted the word collectively at Larry, making the ghoul cringe away, holding his hands up as a shield.

 

“Alright. Fine. I got it.”

 

Ignoring the quiet grumbling about “doing business somehow”, the farewells and “good luck”s began. Along with a few jibes about not getting lost in the desert again. It wasn’t long before Scar got to Liam.

 

“So…”

 

He raised a brow. “So…?” There was laughter in his eyes. Obviously, he was making fun of her. The temptation to shoot him returned for a second.

 

Instead, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up.” There was no real vehemence behind the words. “So…” she tried again. “I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

 

He furrowed his brow at her in return. “You make it sound so final.”

 

“Well, it’s not likely we’ll see each other again, seeing as you live on the other side of the country.” Depressing to point out, but she figured it made sense to lay out all the facts.

 

“You know, there is a thing called the postal service. A little slower than how people communicated in my day, but I hear it gets the job done.” He was joking around with her, but he was also serious. And it was true. People did send letters, even all the way across the country. Not many, but enough that caravans didn’t give too weird of a look when asked to deliver a parcel or message with their usual supplies.

 

She snorted. “Alright. Pen pals it is then.”

 

He smiled at that. Before a look of realization hit his face. “Oh, you know what…” Liam said more to himself than her. “Before I forget…” He reached behind himself, grabbing a bag from who-knows-where that she stopped questioning long ago. “Hey Twig!” The vault dweller looked over curiously. “A little something for the road!” With that, he threw the bag.

 

Twig caught the satchel with a frown, eyes widening at the familiar clink of glass on glass. With an almost crazed glance at the others, he hurriedly opened the bag, grabbing one of its contents. Nuka-Cola. “Oh my god. _Oh my god_ , it’s--Holy shit, the bottles are shaped like rockets.” He looked at Liam with child-like wonder. “That is so cool.” Before turning his attention back to the fizzy beverage treasure trove in his hands, cracking the top of the first one and making happy sounds as he downed it in one go.

 

Liam and his friends all stared. None of Scar’s group even flinched. He turned to her again. “I’m guessing this is normal.”

 

“He hasn't even gotten started yet.”

 

“...I believe that.” Regaining his composure, he smiled again, extending a hand. “Seeya around, Scar.”

 

She looked at the hand in front of her. _Oh hell with it_. Instead, she hugged him, having it returned after the initial shock that must have caused wore off.

 

“Tell you what,” she began after pulling back from the hug. “Maybe we’ll take a trip out to Boston one of these days, see how your town works.”

 

“Just don’t expect me to give you directions if you get lost.”

 

She snorted at the joke.

 

“Not trying to steal my man, I hope.” MacCready shot at her as he walked over to join them.

 

She fired in return. “Nah, he pisses me off too much. He’s your problem.”

 

They both laughed. Liam just stood there, staring at the two of them, unsure if he’d been insulted or not. “Ok then…” He glanced towards the gate to Freeside, reluctantly admitting, “We should probably be going now.”

 

The sniper nodded at him before turning back to her. “I know I already said it, but thank you again.” He gave her a smile, and this time she knew the true meaning behind it.

 

She found herself thinking “hell with it” again, pulling him into a hug too.

 

He blinked, perplexed, sending Liam a confused look over her shoulder.

 

The blonde just shrugged at him. He turned to the others. “Alright, guys, we’ve lingered long enough. Vegas awaits.”

 

“Hell yea!” Cait cheered. “I’m hittin’ the bars!”

 

“I’ll...just be making sure she doesn’t overdo it,” Piper said, and then quietly added, “And possibly collecting blackmail…”

 

“What was that?”  
  


“Nothing.”

 

Curie clasped her hands together excitedly. “Oh, I do wonder what kinds of cuisine they might have.”

 

That got a few smiles. She really was too adorably innocent. How did someone like her not get corrupted by this world?

 

As the two groups gathered to go their separate ways after a few last departing words, it was then Scar remembered something. “Oh, hold on a sec!” she called to the Boston residents.

 

They all stopped, turning back with varying levels of curiosity (or irritation at being held from bar-hopping in Cait’s case).

 

“There’s a requirement for getting into Vegas. You need to be carrying at least two thousand caps on you or they won’t--let you...in…” She trailed off as she was just met with smirks, most of them slowly directed towards the blonde, who was almost grinning in mischief.

 

“I think we’ve got it covered.” She swore he was laughing. Had she missed an obvious joke? He nodded a final time in farewell. “See you around.”

 

And with that, they were through the gate.

 

Destination Vegas.

 

END

 

 

\---

 

**Epilogue.**

“Mannn, I can’t believe I lost that many caps,” MacCready bemoaned his poor fortune.

 

Liam shrugged. “Better luck next time I guess.”

 

“Easy for you to say. You didn’t lose a single cap,” the sniper shot back flatly.

 

“But I didn’t win either. I broke even.”

 

“Still though…”

 

“This is why you set yourself a limit there, MacCready. Some of us know when to quit and cut our losses.”

 

“Yea, yea…” He rolled his eyes at Piper.

 

“I found roulette to be quite fascinating…”

 

“And ya kept winning!” Cait pointed out with wide eyes. “What’s yer secret there, girl?”

 

“Well…” Curie began, falling into “lecture mode”. “It all has to do with probability, and the ratio of favorable chance--”

 

“Ok, I can already tell this is gonna be waaaay over my head. I’m just gonna politely decline ya explainin’ yer methods if ya don’t mind…”

 

Liam smiled at the banter going on between his friends. Despite all the bumps and bangs this trip had thrown at them, it had been worth it, providing a much needed break from the monotony life had become and even adding more friends into his life. And there was never an overabundance of those to have.

 

“...are we even going the right way?”

 

Liam checked his pip-boy’s map.

 

And turned right so they were no longer facing north.

 

“Not one word.”

 

MacCready snorted.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used: _It's a Man_ \- Betty Hutton
> 
> Well. So...that's it. My first Fallout 4 fic. This originally started out as something for myself and the friend I got obsessed with my gameplay (I swear she ships Liam and Mac more than I do...), so hopefully it wasn't confusing or just...sucky. If you made it this far, hope you enjoyed the somewhat crazy ride? =D  
> There is a sequel being worked on, but it's nowhere near complete yet, and I have a handful of oneshots (that I should probably split into multi-chapters since my oneshots tend to be a little long >>; ) that I'll be posting in the meantime. So those will be there to check out if you for whatever reason liked my writing.
> 
> Until the next one.


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